Well, he is power hungry, and he gives like 2 damns,
Which let's be honest, he wouldn't hesitate to hurt- so, does it really count
him putting some things above others doesn't mean he doesn't give a damn though, he's just a perfectionist with clear goals. he clearly does care about yona and hak, this was shown many times in the story. some of his methods are straight up wrong but he doesn't really 'enjoy' war and bloodshed, he's just ready to do anything to make the country stronger to the point it's no longer threathened by any other. he's not even power hungry for his own sake, if he's willing to leave the throne to zeno after he died that means his 'ideals' aren't really that different from zeno's
fr tho like seth still makes my blood boil but he's anything but that two dimensional. heck- even that dude who kidnapped yona and chained her arms and legs had a woman that he cared about. people do crap for a reason and the story perfectly depicts that
why tf did i write seth lmao. i meant soowon****
as much as i'm thankful for the translation the translator notes ain't it man. yall are simplifying soo-won's character by making him seem like just some power-hungry tyrant who doesn't give a damn about anyone