Seoul: The foreign ministry is gearing up to relaunch diplomacy at the leaders' level as soon as the new government is inaugurated following the June 3 presidential election, an official revealed on Tuesday. This comes in the wake of a prolonged leadership vacuum triggered by former President Yoon Suk Yeol's attempt to impose martial law.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Yoon's brief imposition of martial law on December 3 led to his impeachment and subsequent removal from office, causing a stall in South Korea's high-level diplomatic engagements due to the leadership void.

A series of multilateral diplomatic events are slated for next month, including the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders' meeting in the Netherlands. These occasions are anticipated to be the new president's first opportunity for a diplomatic debut, potentially facilitating bilateral discussions with key global figures like U.S. President Donald Trump.

"We are making basic preparations to resume summit diplomacy once the new government takes office following the June 3 presidential election," a ministry official stated to reporters. The official further emphasized the ministry's efforts in preparing both content and protocol to ensure seamless diplomatic activities under any circumstances.

Although South Korea is not a G7 member, it has been invited to the expanded sessions in 2021 and 2023, when hosted by Britain and Japan, respectively. Additionally, South Korea has been a participant in recent NATO summits as one of the organization's four Indo-Pacific partners, alongside Japan, New Zealand, and Australia.