[US midterm election] Song Young-gil “Challenges and opportunities…High-order equation diplomacy phase”

Representative Song Young-gil of the Democratic Party of Korea, special adviser to the President for Peace and Diplomacy, evaluated the results of the U.S. midterm elections on the 5th, saying, “It is both a challenge and an opportunity for us.”

Representative Song emphasized this on Facebook on this day, saying, “The United States has now entered a new phase in which a Republican president and a Democratic-led Congress coexist.”

Rep. Song said, "Changes in the U.S. Congress do not immediately mean changes in foreign policy. Rather, as checks and coordination between the White House and Congress are strengthened, a space for new negotiations may be opened in trade, industry, and security issues."

At the same time, he said, “We have entered a diplomatic phase of a higher-order equation in which we must deal with the Trump administration and the Democratic Congress at the same time,” and diagnosed, “We must create a phase in which the ROK-US alliance and inter-Korean relations become a mutually virtuous cycle.”

He recalled that during a meeting in June with Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is expected to become the first black speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives through this election, "we had a deep conversation about Korea-U.S. relations."

He cited CEO Jeffries's expression, "The American people chose economy over extremism," in his speech after winning the midterm election, and introduced, "These are words we must reflect on now that the political landscape of the United States has changed."

He added, "What the American people thought was most important in this election was ultimately the issue of making a living. Dissatisfaction with the soaring prices and the burden of living expenses was expressed in the vote. In a democracy, there is no politics more important than the lives of the people."