South Korean president-elect vows tough stance on North

South Korea’s newly-elected president Yoon Suk Yeol has vowed to take a tough stance on neighboring North Korea and build on U.S. relations, The Associated Press reported. 

“I’ll rebuild the South Korea-U.S. alliance. I’ll (make) it a strategic comprehensive alliance while sharing key values like liberal democracy, a market economy and human rights,” Yoon said in a televised news conference on Thursday. 

“I’ll establish a strong military capacity to completely deter any provocation,” Yoon added. “I’ll firmly deal with illicit, unreasonable behavior by North Korea in a principled manner, though I’ll always leave open the door for South-North talks.”

During his campaign, Yon has accused outgoing President Moon Jae-in of moving too far toward North Korea and China and away from the U.S, also stressing the need to repair relations with Japan despite their fraught history, according to the AP. 

In a statement on Thursday, Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida expressed his desire to communicate with Yoon, saying: “The focus in South Korea-Japan relations should be finding future paths that would benefit the people of both countries,” Yoon added.

This comes as Yoon, a conservative candidate who ran on the People Power Party ticket, defeated liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung in a hard-fought election.

Moon Jae-in cast himself as a unifier of the Korean peninsula, however after helping broker a meeting between Kim and former President Trump, diplomacy in the region has largely stalled under the Biden administration as North Korea has recently ramped up provocative missile testing.

North Korean state media said the country has tested more nuclear-capable ballistic missiles in the past weeks, with experts calling the moves an attempt pressure the U.S. to ease sanctions amid stalled nuclear diplomacy between the two countries. 

The White House said in a statement that President Biden called Yoon after his election victory, with both leaders agreeing to maintain close coordination in addressing threats posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.