The government unveiled on Wednesday its national security strategy which revised the security policy direction presented by the previous government in 2018. 

The paper outlined the Yoon Suk Yeol government’s intent to strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance and security cooperation among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo while seeking to normalize ties with North Korea via principle. The Moon Jae-in government prioritized establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula by tackling the North’s nuclear issue through a peaceful approach.

First and foremost, the paper said the biggest security threat facing the nation is North Korea’s nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. It added that South Korea will aim to actively bolster its own capacity to proactively respond to the North’s nuclear and missile threats. 

The latest document made no mention of “end-of-war declaration” and “peace treaty” which the previous administration had highlighted as major steps toward denuclearizing the North. 

The paper reaffirmed that the "bold initiative" to denuclearize the North that Yoon had mentioned last August remains valid as the solution to the North’s denuclearization issue.  

The strategy document also differed from the one drafted by the Moon Jae-in government on Seoul-Tokyo relations. 

According to the Yoon administration’s national security strategy South Korea will boost cooperation with Japan on regional and global issues by sharing universal values. 

It also left out the phrase “South Korea will sternly respond to Japan’s distortions of history and wrongful claims over Dokdo” which was used in the Moon government’s strategy document.