Liberal presidential candidate Kim Dong-yeon on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on acting President Han Duck-soo, accusing him of “opportunism” for initiating trade consultations with the United States despite not being an elected leader.
In a written interview with The Korea Herald, Kim said Han’s actions amounted to “betraying his own people,” criticizing the acting president for pushing ahead with ministerial-level talks with Washington on tariffs while remaining vague about his potential presidential ambitions.
“If Han were truly prioritizing national interest during such a critical time, he would have withdrawn from the race and focused on delaying the US tariffs until the next administration could take over,” Kim said.
Han, South Korea’s prime minister and acting president following the peaceful removal of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, recently sparked controversy by stating in an interview with the Financial Times that the US’ aggressive tariff stance is not something South Korea should “fight back” against. Kim said those remarks were “highly concerning.”
In the same interview, Han declined to clarify whether he intends to run for president — a move Kim criticized as undermining both public trust and the credibility of Seoul’s negotiations.
“I’m extremely concerned that this negotiation could not only damage national interests, but also disrupt the progress of the South Korea-US alliance,” Kim said. He emphasized the need for a “meticulous approach” to such high-stakes diplomacy — something he argued Han has failed to demonstrate.
Kim, 68, is currently governor of Gyeonggi Province and announced his presidential bid on April 9 at Incheon Airport, just before departing for the US to raise concerns over looming tariffs on American imports of foreign-made auto parts, including those from South Korea.
During his visit, Kim said he met with a former aide to US President Donald Trump — without offering further details — and claimed to have secured “a communication channel with Trump’s representatives.”
Kim also highlighted his experience dealing directly with the previous Trump administration during his time as deputy prime minister and finance minister under former President Moon Jae-in. That included three encounters with Trump himself, notably during the 2018 renegotiation of the South Korea-US Free Trade Agreement.
“I’m the only candidate among all presidential candidates to have dealt with Trump,” he said. “Trump may seem unpredictable on the surface, but I understand that his diplomacy is deeply transactional. I know his style better than anyone.”
Casting himself as the most qualified candidate to manage the volatile dynamics of the second Trump presidency, Kim pledged to make meeting the US president a top priority if elected.
“If I win, I will push for my first meeting with Trump in June,” he said, referring to the scheduled NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, which Trump is expected to attend.
Kim is one of three candidates vying for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, along with former party chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung and former South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo.
Born in 1957 in Eumseong-gun, North Chungcheong Province, Kim Dong-yeon became his family's breadwinner at the age of 12 and started working as a bank clerk at 17, four months before he graduated from high school. Taking night classes in college while working during the day, Kim passed the civil service entrance examination at 25.
A career civil servant since 1983, Kim served as a presidential secretary for economic affairs, second vice minister of the Finance Ministry and the minister of government policy coordination.
After serving as the deputy prime minister from 2017 to 2018, Kim was elected Gyeonggi Province governor in 2022, outperforming an exit poll projection of his defeat.
Asked about his policy stance toward North Korea, Kim said he would work to build a mutually beneficial environment based on the "economic community" of the two Koreas, adding that military deterrence and diplomacy must come together to deal with North Korea.
"The Yoon administration's hard-line stance to counter North Korea has deteriorated (security) situations on the Korean Peninsula ... raising military tensions and adversely affecting the Korea-US alliance," Kim said. "It is communication and mutual trust, not tension, that brings peace."
Kim also said that it is crucial not to be sidelined in North Korea's foreign policy, which would ultimately contribute to thawing relations between Seoul and Pyongyang.
Against the backdrop of the Yoon administration's pursuit of clarity under the mantra of "values-based diplomacy," Kim argued that Seoul should strike a diplomatic balance by shifting from clarity to "strategic ambiguity" in dealing with superpowers such as the US and China, in order to ensure Seoul's "diplomatic independence and flexibility."
As to Seoul's relationship with Tokyo and China, which saw a tilt towards Tokyo during Yoon's tenure over the past three years, Kim said he would hold a summit with his counterparts in Japan and China to restore trust in the near future. Kim highlighted the need for a future-oriented relationship with Japan and technology cooperation with China amid the country's exponential growth of artificial intelligence technology.
If Kim wins the presidential nomination of his party, he must resign from his post as the governor of Gyeonggi Province to run for president by May 4.
Kim will be headed for a primary election in Gyeonggi Province -- his political home turf -- in the upcoming weekend.
If elected, Kim said his priority lies in dismantling the power structure under which those with vested interests exert control over the country.
His goal could be achieved through an immediate relocation of the presidential office to Sejong, South Korea’s de facto administrative city, along with downsizing the presidential secretariat to one-fifth of the current size, he said.
consnow@heraldcorp.com
