할렐루야 삶과 복지

By a Concerned Middle-aged Korean Citizen When the news broke that President Lee Jae-myung would not be attending the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague, the response was, predictably, divided. Conservative critics quickly labeled it a diplomatic disaster. They warned of weakened alliances and lost strategic ground. Some media even suggested that South Korea was straying from the "freedom-loving" camp, tiptoeing closer to neutrality or worse, appeasement. As a Korean in my 60s who’s seen decades of shifting alliances, I felt compelled to offer a calmer, more grounded view. First, we must remind ourselves: South Korea is not a NATO member. It never has been. The recent invitations to NATO summits—like the one extended during the Ukraine crisis in 2022—were driven by global emergency and optics, not obligation. While participation in such events may enhance international visibility, they rarely yield concrete benefits for a non-member nation like ours. It is not betrayal to skip ...