Challenges waiting for S Korea's president-elect

Foreign affairs and security

Overseas, the next leader faces a complex web of thorny problems that have often complicated the country's relations with regional partners. The new leader will also be tasked with expanding Korea's role in world affairs in line with its middle-power status.

Foreign affairs and security issues were put on the back burner in a campaign dominated by economic and welfare issues. With Northeast Asia's security landscape in a fix and globalisation sweeping society, however, the new commander-in-chief will be pressured to demonstrate leadership in foreign affairs.

Among top missions at hand is how to tame DPRK's relentless nuclear ambitions and saber-rattling.

The DPRK successfully launched a rocket a week ago, prompting the UN Security Council to condemn what it called a cloaked test of long-range ballistic missile technology. Seoul and Washington are now pondering a fresh round of sanctions that would thrust the reclusive country into further isolation.

Denouncing it as a "provocation," Park vowed not to waver despite Pyongyang's repeated attempts to meddle in domestic affairs in the South.

"The people (of South Korea) will not budge an inch no matter how hard the North struggles to intervene in the presidential election and launch the missile," she said at a rally in Ulsan last week.

"This is a provocation to the Republic of Korea and to the international community and the world."

Park has boasted of her personal ties with such leaders as Xi Jinping of China and Angela Merkel of Germany, and her ability to manage diplomatic and security matters. Still, the incoming president may have difficulty realising her promises to mend inter-Korean ties in the face of growing international calls for tougher punishment for the North's rocket liftoff.

For Seoul, Washington is the mainstay of national security and deterrence against the North with its strategic refocusing toward Asia. Beijing is already one of the South's top trade, tourism and investment partners and a key stakeholder in multilateral talks.

"South Korea has to dually manage its security, which is grounded in the ROK-US alliance, and its economic well-being, which is dependent on the ROK-China strategic cooperative partnership," Han Suk-hee, a professor at Yonsei University's Graduate School of International Studies, wrote recently.

Another big question is how to improve the fractious relationship with Japan, the former occupier of the peninsula. Concerns are rising that the new government of Shinzo Abe, Tokyo's nationalist premier-in-waiting, will spur a rightward shift in Japan and toughen its line on territorial and historical rows with Korea.

With public diplomacy emerging as a crucial tool of statecraft, Park will have to shake off her out-of-touch image and engage peoples at home and abroad.

Her vision for an "era of diplomacy by the people" includes broader opportunities for the Korean youth to take part in development programs, more overseas Korean language schools and support for cultural exports. She has also pledged to scale up official development assistance and house at least five more international organisations here.

Countries around the world have been stressing "soft power" to promote national interests and elevate national prestige.

Diplomats are engaged in greater outreach efforts, while inviting other sectors such as culture and sports to create synergy. At the same time, rapidly advancing social media and information technology are aiding agenda-setting and instant communication.

"The world of traditional power politics was typically about whose military or economy would win. In today's information age, politics is also about whose ‘story' wins," Joseph Nye, a former US assistant secretary of defense and now a professor at Harvard University, said in a 2010 essay.