Seoul informs foreign envoys that new president will be chosen within 60 days of court ruling
The Constitutional Court’s unanimous decision to eject President Yoon Suk Yeol has begun to clear a monthslong fog of uncertainty for foreign countries over how and when South Korea’s political leadership vacuum would end.
The political instability and leadership vacuum triggered by Yoon’s short-lived martial law declaration on Dec. 3 dragged on for four months, at a time when amid sharp US policy shifts made leader-level diplomacy more vital than ever.
Seoul is also due to host the APEC summit in November, bringing together 21 countries, including the US and China. This year is also the 60th anniversary of normalizing relations with Japan.
Following the court decision, the Foreign Ministry on Friday promptly began taking necessary diplomatic and administrative steps. Yoon's official portrait, displayed at all South Korean embassies and consulates general around the world, was taken down in accordance with a ministry directive.
The Foreign Ministry conveyed to all diplomatic missions in the country via a diplomatic note that South Korea was now constitutionally required to hold a presidential election no later than June 3 — within 60 days of the Constitutional Court’s ruling.
First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun on Friday phoned US Acting Ambassador to South Korea Joseph Yun to explain the court’s ruling and suggest continuing the promotion of bilateral cooperation.
Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Chung Byung-won stressed the importance of maintaining close communication to ensure continued progress in relations with both countries during phone calls with Japanese Ambassador Koichi Mizushima and Chinese Ambassador Dai Bing after the court ruling, according to the Foreign Ministry in Seoul.
Trump speeds ahead, Seoul in limbo
Trump, a proponent of top-down, summit-centered diplomacy, has yet to make a phone call to a South Korean president in his second term, even as his administration moves with alacrity on foreign and security issues that have implications for the Korean Peninsula.
Neither the reinstated Prime Minister and acting President Han Duck-soo nor Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok — who briefly assumed presidential duties following Han’s impeachment by the National Assembly — has spoken on the phone with Trump, despite Seoul’s hopes for such a call.
"Trump is moving at 100 miles per hour while the leaderless South Koreans are stuck in neutral," said Victor Cha, president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Trump continues to plow ahead with more policies likely to have a major impact on Korea.”
"The impeachment crisis has left South Korea leaderless," incapable of doing what the leaders of other countries — Japan, France, Canada, India and the United Kingdom included — already have done: make a hurried visit to the White House and negotiate with Trump for tariff exemptions and other protective measures to shield their national interests, according to Cha.
“Bureaucrats and business leaders have come to DC to try to fill the void, albeit unsuccessfully,” Cha added.
Patrick Cronin, the Asia-Pacific security chair at the Hudson Institute, also pointed out, “The early return of a South Korean president with a clear legal and electoral mandate will allow Seoul and Washington to engage in wide-ranging negotiations,” in his report "Strategic Alignment in an Era of Uncertainty: Next Steps for the US–South Korea Alliance."
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's exclusion of South Korea from his first Indo-Pacific tour in March, and the country's omission from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's multi-nation trip to Japan, Thailand and India, underscore a setback in the alliance.
Such omissions from high-level diplomatic itineraries have raised alarm in Seoul, particularly at a time when policy coordination with Washington is more critical than ever. The second Trump administration is currently reviewing its foreign and security policies, and decisions are being made that will shape the region’s strategic landscape.
Fred Fleitz, former chief of staff of the National Security Council in Trump’s first term, said Thursday that what he perceived from his conversations with people in the second Trump administration was “confusion about what's going on in South Korea today.”
“I will say that there is a belief that domestic instability in South Korea is bad for regional and global security. South Korea is an important player in promoting stability in this region. And the longer this uncertainty goes on about the leadership, it's providing opportunities for China and North Korea to exploit,” Fleitz said Thursday during the Sejong Institute-hosted forum in Seoul. “I can say with confidence that the Trump administration wants this resolved and wants to see a stable domestic situation in South Korea.”
The State Department on Friday said, “The United States respects the ROK’s democratic institutions, its legal processes, and the decision of the Constitutional Court,” in a statement attributed to a spokesperson responding to The Korea Herald’s request for comment on the court’s ruling. ROK refers to the official name of South Korea, the Republic of Korea.
"The United States is committed to working with Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and the ROK government to ensure stability and continuity in the US-ROK Alliance until a new president is elected," the statement read. "The United States looks forward to a future of close cooperation that brings security and prosperity to both our nations."
Diplomatic calendar swells in latter half of 2025
South Korea will be full of leader-level diplomatic events in the second half of this year.
The Yoon Suk Yeol administration had planned a first-ever summit with five Central Asian countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — in June under its "K-Silk Road" policy.
South Korea will also host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit from late October to early November, its first time hosting since 2005. Seoul expects Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit South Korea for the APEC summit, which would mark Xi’s first visit to the country in 11 years.
The South Korean government had also intended to mark the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations with Japan through leader-level exchanges — plans now under a cloud.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, speaking in a session of a House of Representatives committee on Friday, underscored the importance of ties between South Korea and Japan continuing irrespective of a leadership change in South Korea.
“Regardless of which government comes to power, this year marks the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties between Japan and South Korea,” Ishiba said, responding to a question about the Constitutional Court ruling to remove Yoon. “Bilateral cooperation between Japan and South Korea has been recognized as highly important for regional peace and stability.”
dagyumji@heraldcorp.com
