Rep. Song Young-gil of the Democratic Party of Korea (Yonhap) Rep. Song Young-gil, a six-term lawmaker who is considered a potential candidate for the ruling Democratic Party's chair post, said that South Korea must strengthen its diplomatic capacity as global bipolarization unfolds."Former President Kim Dae-jung said that South Korea must become a nation that engages in diplomacy, yet we are seeing diplomatic standing in the international community decline with poor performance," Song said at a parliamentary forum to evaluate Seoul's foreign policy that he hosted at the National Assembly on Friday.Song, a liberal heavyweight who recently returned to the National Assembly after winning a parliamentary by-election in June, is known for his expertise in foreign policy, having served as chair of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee from 2020 to 2021.Song also recently traveled to the United States as a special envoy of the speaker of the National Assembly, Rep. Cho Jeong-sik.According to Song, South Korea should act to preemptively cope with North Korea's potential move to side with China, Russia or Iran amid a bipolarizing landscape due to unrest in the Middle East.In dealing with North Korea, Song said South Korea should ditch its strategy of "denuclearization first, concessions later" that was proven to be unrealistic in failed peace talks between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.He also said the two Koreas must achieve permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula by ending the decades-long armistice agreement that halted the 1950-53 Korean War, adding that simply managing inter-Korean threats is not sustainable.Song also said that now is the time to fully shift away from pro-US diplomacy and employ an independent multilateral foreign policy to address shifting sands in geopolitical dynamics.Seoul has been showing "a lack of effort to secure a space for our independent diplomacy," he said.Seoul should follow liberal President Lee Jae Myung's pursuit of independent diplomacy, he said."It is disappointing to see that (our diplomatic capacity) is failing to adequately support Lee's philosophy," he said.One of the examples is Lee's open criticism of Israel over its human rights violations through an X post in April, Song said.