South Korea's Nato no-show: pragmatism or diplomatic shift?
With the Middle East in turmoil and his own government barely weeks old, South Korean President
Lee Jae-myung has opted to forgo this week's
Nato summit in the Netherlands – a move that analysts say shows the shifting sands of regional diplomacy.
Unlike his conservative predecessor,
Yoon Suk-yeol , who attended the transatlantic security alliance's summits three times in as many years, Lee's expected Nato absence has prompted speculation over Seoul's diplomatic intentions. Observers warn against reading too much into the move, however.
'President Lee would have attended the Nato summit but for the US bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities,' Lim Eul-chul, an international relations specialist and professor at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies think tank, told This Week in Asia on Monday.
'It would be reading too much into it to see this decision as a signal to China or a shift in South Korea's diplomatic calculus under the new government,' Lim added, noting that the Lee administration was still formulating its regional and global strategies.
But other observers cautioned that optics matter when it comes to geopolitics.
Anti-Nato protesters rally in The Hague on Sunday before this week's summit. Photo: Xinhua
Lee might have been concerned 'that a strongly worded joint statement could offend China', suggested Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
40 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
China not seen as likely to use navy to secure Hormuz Strait
China is highly unlikely to use its navy to secure the vital Strait of Hormuz if Iran threatens to close it as Middle East tensions rise, a top US analyst told reporters Monday. Although China depends heavily on Middle Eastern oil, its approach would be shaped by quiet negotiations and self-interest, not direct military intervention, Richard Fontaine, chief executive of the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank, said. He pointed to attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in the Red Sea last year, when Beijing reached an agreement with the group to spare Chinese-flagged vessels. 'China acted, but it just cut a separate deal with the Houthis,' Fontaine said. Its focus, he added, was 'protecting its own interests' rather than policing global waterways. Play Although about 16 per cent of China's seaborne crude came from Iran in early 2025, CNAS analysts said its approach would remain shaped by long-standing economic interests.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Contrary to naysayers, Hong Kong's national security law is working well
With the enactment of Hong Kong's national security law on June 30, 2020, acts of collusion with foreign countries to endanger national security, secession, subversion and terrorist activity were criminalised. As discussed at a recent forum to mark the law's fifth anniversary , the 'one country, two systems' policy has operated smoothly since. The national security law has been applied throughout with great restraint by the authorities, with prosecutions only resulting when absolutely necessary. Between July 1, 2020 and May 1, 2025, 185 people and five companies were prosecuted for offences in connection with endangering national security, including under the national security law, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance passed last year and the now-repealed sedition offence under the Crimes Ordinance. About 170 people and one company have finished court proceedings, with most defendants convicted. These figures give the lie to foreign claims that thousands have been indicted. Moreover, the conviction rate of over 95 per cent in national security trials shows great care is being taken in investigating these cases and prosecuting them. As elsewhere in the common law world, the courts can only convict defendants if satisfied of their guilt beyond reasonable doubt; the conviction rate illustrates the strength of the cases they have tried. As the national security law contains new procedures, there were concerns over how these could be integrated into the legal system. However, the courts have sensibly interpreted the national security law in ways that are equitable and realistic.
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Iranian parliament committee approves general plan to suspend cooperation with IAEA
The national security committee of Iran's parliament approved the general outline of a bill meant to fully suspend Tehran's cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Monday, citing committee spokesman Ebrahim Rezaei. Advertisement Rezaei said that according to the bill, installing surveillance cameras, allowing inspections, and submitting reports to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would be suspended as long as the security of nuclear facilities is not guaranteed. Parliament still has to approve the bill in a plenary. Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, accused the IAEA of lacking objectivity and professionalism. The IAEA in June adopted a resolution condemning Tehran's failure to cooperate with the agency with regard to its nuclear programme. As Israel and Iran exchanged fresh strikes on Monday, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte stressed that Tehran should not be allowed to have a nuclear bomb. He said his 'greatest fear' was that Tehran had a nuclear weapon which would give it a 'stranglehold' on Israel and the rest of the world. Advertisement 'When it comes to Nato's stance on Iran's nuclear programme, allies have long agreed that Iran must not develop a nuclear weapon,' said Rutte ahead of a Nato summit in The Hague.
