President Yoon Suk Yeol landed in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday to attend the NATO Summit for the third consecutive year, as the first South Korean leader to be invited to the security meeting of the 32-member countries.
But before he attends the session for invited countries, and a separate session with three other Indo-Pacific countries on Thursday, President Yoon held back-to-back meetings with NATO member countries and Japan.
We connect to our Oh Soo-young who’s in D.C.
1.
It seems President Yoon hit the ground running in Washington, meeting the leaders of NATO member countries, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
That’s right. President Yoon met with the seven heads of government on Wednesday, including the leaders of Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, Czech Republic, Finland and Japan.
Of course, among those summits, Yoon’s meeting with Japanese PM Fumio Kishida stood out, marking the second time they have met this year, and their eleventh summit since Yoon’s inauguration, in light of North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile provocations.
Amid Pyongyang’s recent treaty with Moscow to aid each other militarily in the face of aggression, Yoon and Kishida agreed to work closely with like-minded countries to counter the collaboration.
The South Korean leader said the recent developments between Russia and North Korea highlights the importance of the Camp David trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the U.S., and Japan. Kishida agreed that that the security of the North Atlantic and Northeast Asia cannot be separated, emphasizing the importance of solidarity.
The Russia-North Korea axis was a key theme in Yoon’s discussions with the leaders of NATO member countries, who recognised that the Indo-Pacific and Transatlantic regions are no longer separate strategic spheres of security interest.
The leaders all expressed grave concern over the treaty between Russia and North Korea to strengthen mutual military and economic cooperation, amid continued provocations by North Korea and the prolonged war in Ukraine. They agreed to firmly address the Russia-North Korea military cooperation, which violates UN Security Council resolutions, in solidarity with the international community.
The Netherlands in particular agreed to work closely with South Korea on denuclearizing North Korea and countering Pyongyang’s cooperation with Moscow.
Meanwhile, Germany expressed its intention to join the United Nations Command, which has a presence on the Korean Peninsula. President Yoon welcomed Germany’s application to join, deeming it a demonstration of Germany’s commitment to upholding a rules-based international order and contributing to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
With Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Yoon said he particularly looked forward to further institutionalizing and developing bilateral security cooperation through the “2+2 Foreign and Defense High-Level Meeting”, indicating a strong level of cooperation between two like-minded countries for global and regional security in the Indo-Pacific.
A Presidential Official told reporters that the Indo-Pacific countries when they convene tomorrow will also issue a statement on the Russia-North Korea collaboration, as well as present ways to institutionalise cooperation with NATO.
Q2. Right, economic cooperation was another central theme of President Yoon’s summits.
That’s right. Leading up to the summit, NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, along with diplomatic experts, indicated that member states are seeking practical cooperation with South Korea, to boost their defense industry capacity as well as their economic security interests, given South Korea’s diverse high-tech capabilities.
According to Yoon’s Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Kim Tae-hyo, President Yoon engaged in discussions about economic cooperation with the leaders of Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Finland –countries that are major trading partners and technology leaders in Europe and North America.
President Yoon discussed ways to promote practical cooperation in various fields, including nuclear power and the defense industry, infrastructure and supply chains.
President Yoon discussed nuclear energy cooperation with four countries including Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Finland, as countries aim to diversify their energy sources and aim for carbon neutrality.
He also discussed critical mineral supplies, space and defense with Sweden, and South Korea’s semiconductor alliance forged with the Netherlands last year, discussing the achievements seen so far in research.
With the leaders of Germany and Finland, defense cooperation was of common interest.
As all these strategic technologies depend on high levels of trust and common values, there’s growing demand for South Korea’s partnership on various economic and technological fronts.
Thanks for your report, Sooyoung.
Source : Arirang TV, https://www.arirang.com/news/view?id=273122
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