South Korea swore in its new president on Tuesday.
Yoon Suk-yeol begins his five-year term as relations with North Korea are going through a period of high tension.
But who is this 61-year-old conservative and what will his politics look like?
We take stock.
Swap nuclear toys for big bucks
For his first statement, Yoon Suk-yeol called on North Korea to give up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for massive economic aid.
An increasingly belligerent North Korea has conducted a record 15 missile tests since January, including two last week.
Seoul and Washington also suspect it of wanting to resume its nuclear tests soon.
On Tuesday at midnight, the new head of state attended his first briefing as supreme commander of the armies with the heads of the South Korean general staff, in the bunker located under his offices.
After being sworn in at a giant ceremony in Seoul, he called on North Korea to renounce atomic weapons in his inaugural speech.
"If North Korea genuinely embarks on a process of complete denuclearization, we will present a bold plan that will significantly strengthen the North Korean economy and improve the quality of life of its people," he promised.
“Learning good manners” to Kim Jong-un
The president has promised a tougher foreign policy for his country, the world's 10th largest economy, after the failed attempts at rapprochement with the North that marked the mandate of his predecessor Moon Jae-in.
In the wake of his election victory, Yoon Suk-yeol pledged to "severely deal" with the threat posed by the Kim Jong-un regime.
During his election campaign, he had called Kim Jong-un a "rude boy", throwing to voters: "if you give me a chance, I will teach him good manners".
Yoon Suk-yeol had also called for a stronger relationship with his American ally.
President Joe Biden is expected in South Korea at the end of May.
Popularity at half mast
Elected narrowly in March, Yoon Suk-yeol, a former prosecutor new to politics, takes office with a popularity rate of barely 41%, one of the lowest in the history of South Korean democracy for a beginning of term, according to a recent Gallup poll.
While the approval rating of his leftist predecessor Moon Jae-in is still 44%.
The main reason for Yoon Suk-yeol's unpopularity appears to be his decision to move the presidential office from the Blue House in northern Seoul to the former Defense Ministry in the center of the capital.
This hasty and costly move shocked public opinion.
His detractors consider it useless and even dangerous for the security of the president and the country.
Yoon Suk-yeol considers the Blue House, a site used by the Japanese colonial administration from 1910 to 1945, a "symbol of imperial power".
He argues that the move will ensure a more democratic presidency.
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