Mr Yoon may be a foreign policy novice but his stated views are so far consistent with the conservative People Power Party’s long-held policies towards the North.

He has signaled the pursuit of a more robust US-South Korea alliance, rather than the brokering role adopted by Mr Moon, who tried to mediate between Washington and Pyongyang.

But it is with China that he may face his most testing foreign policy challenge, treading a finely balanced tightrope between South Korea’s largest trading partner and Washington’s increasingly competitive approach towards Beijing’s regional ambitions.

An early waypoint of his handling of sensitive relations with China may be his ambition to deploy an additional THAAD US missile defence system on South Korean soil – a thorny issue with Beijing, which has protested the system’s powerful radar is a threat to its national security. 

An installation of the missile interceptor during the previous administration invited harsh and swift economic retaliation from China, costing an estimated $7.5 billion to the South Korean economy.

THAAD, and Mr Yoon’s intention to boost trilateral ties with Washington and Tokyo, and step up cooperation with the regional “Quad” gathering of the United States, Australia, Japan and India, will likely invoke a frosty response from Beijing and be a test of Mr Yoon’s resolve.

Mr Yoon’s starting position on China is “hardlined,” tweeted North Korea expert, Dr Duyeon Kim. “But will he really stand up to China or hedge when Korean stakeholders/economy affected & when he discovers in time that he will need China’s cooperation on certain elements of his North Korea policy?”