South Korea's Critique of Israel Signals Growing Diplomatic Independence from the United States

In May, President Lee Jae-myung denounced Israel’s conduct in Gaza, calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal and drawing parallels to the Holocaust and Japan’s comfort-women system, which Israel’s foreign ministry condemned as trivializing the Holocaust. The criticism follows the detention of two South Korean citizens on humanitarian aid boats bound for Gaza and fits a pattern of Lee’s outspoken stance on international issues.

At the same time, Lee has pursued policies aimed at greater strategic autonomy, such as proposing that South Korean troops assume operational control in wartime and securing a landmark nuclear-submarine contract with the United States. Although he continues to engage with Washington, Lee praised President Donald Trump’s decision to scale back joint exercises, viewing it as an opportunity to advance Seoul’s self-reliance agenda. The episode highlights a widening gap between South Korea’s historic alliance with the United States and its emerging independent diplomatic posture, especially as public opinion in South Korea grows increasingly critical of Israel.