Acting acting...New Year's Summit Diplomacy All-Stop

[Anchor]
With the president and the prime minister standing on the impeachment bench, it has become virtually difficult for Korea to engage in summit diplomacy in the new year.

Major international issues are waiting one after another due to the launch of the second Trump administration, and it is not expected to be an easy journey before restoring political trust.

Reporter Hong Sun-ki reports.

[Reporter]
At the end of last month, 20 days after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared an emergency martial law, the deputy foreign ministers of South Korea and the U.S. rushed to hold face-to-face talks and declared normalization of their diplomatic and security schedules.

[Kurt Campbell / U.S. Deputy Secretary of State (last month): I think it's important to schedule a meeting in the hope that an important consultative body in the Korea-U.S. relationship will be maintained.]

He wanted to restore diplomatic trust hurt by martial law and impeachment, but in less than a week, the acting president, the prime minister, was again on the impeachment bench.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs quickly explained the acting deputy prime minister system to ambassadors from major countries such as the United States, China, and Japan, but diplomatic trust has already been hurt once more.

In particular, at the time when the prime minister was acting as president, summit diplomacy, which was carefully exploring the possibility, became virtually impossible.

Discussions on Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba's visit to Korea, which were expected this month, have also been suspended, and shuttle diplomacy between Korea and Japan has also been suspended.

There are also voices of concern that it will affect the APEC summit to be held in Korea in the second half of this year.

Above all, U.S. President-elect Trump, who prefers a "top-down" method under the "acting agent" system, is likely to put the Korea-U.S. dialogue behind him.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok's first single emphasis on cooperation with allies was also taken into account such a serious diplomatic situation.

[Choi Sang-mok / Acting President (last month's 27th): The international situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula is severe. We hope that you will work hard to cooperate with your allies and the international community while operating alliance cooperation between the U.S. and South Korea.]

The government plans to emphasize an unshakable diplomatic stance centered on Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol, but it is unlikely that Korea's trust will be restored for the time being after martial law and two impeachment in less than a month.

This is YTN Hong Seon-gi.