After months of political turmoil in South Korea, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung was elected as president in a snap election held June 3. Elections came two years early after the impeachment of conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was removed by South Korea’s top court in April after being impeached for his short-lived imposition of martial law. An iron-fisted labor lawyer and former factory worker, Lee grounds his politics in survival and security. Driven by his protectionist instinct, Lee plans on a “pragmatic diplomacy” that prioritizes national interests over ideology—a posture that may help him navigate U.S. President Donald Trump’s transactional world order.

A vocal critic of Yoon’s “values-based diplomacy,” which hinged on partnering with Western liberal democracies to fight autocracies, Lee plans to recalibrate South Korea’s foreign policy to pursue economic and security gains over ideological alliances. His pragmatism marks a shift from his liberal predecessors, who held principled commitments to autonomy from U.S. hegemony, historical redress with Japan, and reunification with North Korea. While inheriting their norms and values, Lee is trying to forge a more adaptive—and mercurial—statecraft to steer a divided South Korea through intensifying geopolitical headwinds.

After months of political turmoil in South Korea, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung was elected as president in a snap election held June 3. Elections came two years early after the impeachment of conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was removed by South Korea’s top court in April after being impeached for his short-lived imposition of martial law. An iron-fisted labor lawyer and former factory worker, Lee grounds his politics in survival and security. Driven by his protectionist instinct, Lee plans on a “pragmatic diplomacy” that prioritizes national interests over ideology—a posture that may help him navigate U.S. President Donald Trump’s transactional world order.

A vocal critic of Yoon’s “values-based diplomacy,” which hinged on partnering with Western liberal democracies to fight autocracies, Lee plans to recalibrate South Korea’s foreign policy to pursue economic and security gains over ideological alliances. His pragmatism marks a shift from his liberal predecessors, who held principled commitments to autonomy from U.S. hegemony, historical redress with Japan, and reunification with North Korea. While inheriting their norms and values, Lee is trying to forge a more adaptive—and mercurial—statecraft to steer a divided South Korea through intensifying geopolitical headwinds.

South Korea faces formidable foreign-policy challenges, which have been left in limbo since Yoon’s impeachment in December. Casting himself as a champion of liberal........

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