South Korea's Lee Jae-myung Navigates Pragmatic Diplomacy at G7 Summit

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung attended the G7 summit as an invitee, focusing on energy security, artificial intelligence governance, and strengthening coordination with the United States. Amid heightened Middle East tensions and risks in the Strait of Hormuz, Lee proposed enhancing information-sharing and emergency cooperation among Asia-Pacific energy importers through platforms like the OECD, APEC, and G20. On AI, he stressed the importance of balancing innovation with safety, transparency, and accountability, aiming to link these discussions with South Korea's 2028 G20 presidency.

During a formal dinner hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, Lee held extensive talks with former U.S. President Donald Trump. The discussions covered the U.S.-South Korea alliance, Middle East peace efforts, the Korean Peninsula, shipbuilding cooperation, and trilateral coordination involving Japan. Lee welcomed progress in ending the war between the U.S. and Iran, and both leaders agreed on the need for free and safe navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Lee urged Trump to pay special attention to peace on the Korean Peninsula, to which Trump expressed his willingness to play a necessary role and maintain close communication. This informal engagement, while not constituting an official summit outcome, demonstrated efforts to maintain channels of communication on key security and economic issues.

The G7 also issued a geopolitical statement on June 17 expressing deep concern over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, reaffirming the goal of complete denuclearization in line with U.N. Security Council resolutions, and highlighting abductions and cybercrimes by North Korea. Although this approach differs from Lee's emphasis on dialogue and risk management, the statement underscored that there is no international acceptance of North Korea's nuclear status.

In response, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued a statement through KCNA on June 18, accusing the G7 of exceeding its authority. She emphasized that nuclear weapons are a core interest that North Korea will never give up, calling the weapons "self-defense" and vowing to maintain them. The tension between the G7's denuclearization stance and North Korea's defiant response presents a challenge for Lee's peace-oriented foreign policy as Seoul seeks to reconcile dialogue with the principle of complete denuclearization.