As South Korea’s opposition leader Lee Jae-myung edges closer to the presidency, his past remarks on China have raised concerns among U.S. analysts and conservative politicians of a pivot to a policy of “compliance” toward Beijing. 

While the now-imprisoned President Yoon Suk-yeol raised Beijing’s ire at times with seemingly adversarial rhetoric, U.S. foreign policy analysts and conservative politicians have questioned the impeachment motion that led to his ouster as a precursor to a “pro-China” and “pro-North Korea” Lee administration.