South Korean opposition head hails Trump for Korean Peninsula peace efforts

Democratic Party of Korea leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung on Friday praised US President-elect Donald Trump’s summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his first term as a “historic contribution to peace in the Korean Peninsula.”

“The first Trump administration made a historic move of holding the first-ever summit with North Korea and contributed to peace in the Korean Peninsula,” he told a meeting of the party leadership.

He said that as Trump won a second term in the White House, he hoped the returning Republican president would “continue efforts to ease military tensions and build peace in the Korean Peninsula.”

Congratulating the US president-elect on his victory, Lee said he wished South Korea and US allies would “deepen partnership and cooperation based on mutual trust even further.”

Lee then called on the Yoon Suk Yeol administration to “completely overhaul its foreign policy stance.”

“While President Yoon was busy practicing ideological diplomacy, the US and Japan have elected new leaders and the situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula is changing rapidly with Russia deploying North Korean troops in the war,” he said.

He said the administration in Seoul should “face the shifting reality and pursue practicality over ideology.”