David Lammy can’t afford to let down South Korea

Labour’s first 100 days in power have been nothing short of a disaster. Whether the beneath contemptible decision to shelve the Higher Education Freedom of Speech Act, or the disgrace that was the handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, the stage has already been set for five long years for domestic and foreign policy blunders. David Lammy’s first few months as Foreign Secretary have faired little better.

For Lammy, risible speeches to the United Nations have been combined with absurd claims from his boss, calling for the expansion of the institution’s sclerotic Security Council. Quantity does not equal quality. Lammy’s laissez-faire approach has also extended to his apathy towards strengthening the UK’s so-called tilt to the Indo-Pacific, of which one vital component is our relations with South Korea. During his visit to China and South Korea this week, amongst other East Asian states, the Foreign Secretary stated he had ‘raised’ many issues, from climate change to his concern about Russia’s burgeoning alliance with North Korea.