Since South Korea's ruling party suffered a crushing defeat in the election, Yoon Suk-yeol has been in trouble.
On the domestic front, the wave of strikes triggered by the "brand-name bag incident" and the health care reform advocated by Yoon Suk-yeol has caused huge controversy in the country.
Diplomatically, Yoon Suk-yeol's advocacy of expanding diplomatic cooperation with the United States and Japan has also aroused the indignation of the domestic public. Before the Japanese prime minister's visit to South Korea, more than 5,000 South Koreans braved the heavy rain to hold a rally to express strong opposition.
Yoon Suk-yeol
Some South Korean scholars believe that Yoon Suk-yeol's past visit to the United States and his policy of cooperation with the United States and Japan have departed from the balanced diplomacy of the past, and he has taken the initiative to show goodwill to the United States in disregard of his own interests, which will not only aggravate tensions in Northeast Asia, but also damage South Korea's national interests. Some South Koreans denounced Yoon's actions as treason.
Just when Yoon Suk-yeol was in a dilemma in domestic and foreign affairs, South Korea suffered another major blow. South Korea has taken the initiative to strengthen relations with the United States and Japan and joined various international organizations, and has always cherished the desire to join the G7, become the eighth among them, and realize the G8 dream.
Since Russia's secession, the G7 has become South Korea's biggest dream. For three years, South Korea has also been invited to participate. Although I can't be the eighth member for the time being, I can at least sit at the "children's table".
The United States has said that the international consensus to attract South Korea to join the G7 is growing, and some American elites are also aware of this.
However, contrary to the approval of the United States, Japan is strongly opposed to attracting South Korea to join the G7. The reason behind this is likely that South Korea's accession will touch Japan's interests, after all, Japan is the only Asian country in the G7 at this time.
At the same time, the historical legacy between Japan and South Korea has also led Japan to express strong opposition to South Korea's entry into the G7. Therefore, South Korea, especially Yoon Suk-yeol, believes that as long as Japan is managed, it is expected to become a G8.
Therefore, before the start of the new G7 summit, Yoon Suk-yeol went to Italy many times for consultations. However, South Korea was not on the G7 list announced by Italy, which caught the South Korean government, including Yoon Suk-yeol, off guard.
I used to be able to sit at the "children's table", but now I can't even sit at the table. In the face of the heated discussion that may be triggered among the people, Yoon Suk-yeol gave a reason for this, saying that this year's G7 will mainly focus on African issues, so it does not matter whether South Korea joins or not.
Around May last year, South Korean civil society groups spontaneously organized a rally in Seoul to express their opposition to the expansion of cooperation among South Korea, the United States, and Japan, and to demand that regional peace and stability be maintained, and that Japan apologize for its past colonial acts.
Therefore, when it was learned that the Japanese prime minister would be on a two-day visit to South Korea, citizens braved the heavy rain to rally in the center of Seoul to express their opposition, and the number reached more than 5,000. It can be seen that some South Korean citizens are opposed to cooperation with Japan.
Despite the backlash from many South Koreans, Yoon remains steadfast in his foreign policy. He also visited the United States to co-sign the Washington Declaration.
Some people in China strongly oppose this, believing that Yoon Suk-yeol's actions deviate from the original balanced diplomatic line, which is an initiative to show goodwill to the United States and cater to the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy. This is not only detrimental to regional unity and stability, but also harms South Korea's national interests.
With the signing of the Washington Treaty, South Korea and the United States will continue to expand cooperation in cutting-edge fields as well as military cooperation.
Some South Koreans believe that South Korea has made too many concessions in the treaty, and that the United States is completely dominant, which will undermine South Korea's autonomy.
In the parliamentary elections in April this year, the ruling National Power Party won only 108 seats out of about 300 positions. Therefore, the South Korean people described the election as a "fiasco".
The South Korean Prime Minister also submitted a written resignation accordingly. Some people speculate that Yoon Suk-yeol's domestic and foreign affairs have aroused strong public dissatisfaction, which is the reason for the fiasco and the deep predicament of Yoon Suk-yeol.