At last year’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in Madrid, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was a novice on the international stage. Fresh from his electoral victory, his political and foreign policy experience was minimal and his rapport with fellow leaders was virtually non-existent.

Yoon was the first ROK president to participate in a NATO Summit, an inclusion that sparked curiosity among international observers questioning the presence of non-NATO leaders at the meeting.

A year later, the atmosphere is quite different as he prepares for his second NATO Summit, slated to occur early next week in Vilnius, Lithuania.