<W解説>韓国・李大統領、G7サミット出席へ=日韓首脳会談は行われるか?
South Korean President Lee to attend G7 Summit - Will a Japan-South Korea summit take place?
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung is scheduled to attend the G7 summit to be held in the middle of this month. The South Korean presidential office announced this on the 7th.
This is expected to be the diplomatic debut for President Lee, and attention is focused on whether a Japan-South Korea summit with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will take place during the G7 Summit.
South Korea is not a G7 member, but it will participate in the G7 summits in 2021 when the UK chairs the summit and in 2023 when Japan chairs the summit.
He was invited to attend the summit. Then-President Moon Jae-in attended the 2021 summit. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea and the core of the administration were delighted by his first participation, and a senior official from the presidential office said,
"There is an international assessment that South Korea has effectively been placed in the G8," he said. South Korea was also invited to the G7 summit held in Hiroshima in May of last year.
President Yoon Seok-yeol attended the expanded G7 summit and discussed international cooperation on issues such as diplomacy, security, and the economy, as well as assistance for developing countries and environmental issues.
In 2013, together with then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, he became the first South Korean president to visit the Korean A-bomb Victims Memorial in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, and also held a Japan-South Korea summit and a Japan-US-South Korea summit.
South Korea was not invited to the G7 summit held in Italy in June. At the time, the presidential office said, "Italy chose the countries to be invited mainly because of its domestic immigration issue and the related issues in Africa and the Mediterranean."
However, the opposition party said, "The Yoon administration is not an important platform for discussing the rapidly changing international situation, such as the war in Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, and the new Cold War on the Korean Peninsula."
This year's G7 summit will be held in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada.
"International peace and security," including assistance for Krajina; "Stability and growth of the global economy," including the impact of new tariffs by the United States and issues such as overproduction in China; and "Digital
South Korea has been invited to the G7 summit for the first time in two years, and Lee, who took office as president on the 4th of this month, will attend.
"The president may be feeling the pressure of making his debut on the diplomatic stage as soon as he takes office, given the mounting domestic issues," he said. "However, the economic issue that the Lee administration considers to be an urgent task is
"The issue cannot be resolved without proactive summit talks," he said. In addition to the G7 summit, South Korea has also been invited to the NATO summit to be held in the Netherlands on the 24th and 25th of this month.
The Chosun Ilbo pointed out that "It is not every day that the leaders of North America, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific region, such as the G7 and NATO, gather together."
"I would like to ask you to consider this as a golden opportunity to quickly prepare to meet with the leaders of relevant countries immediately after taking office," he said.
Attention is focused on whether the first Japan-Korea summit meeting will take place between the two leaders. On the 4th of this month, Prime Minister Ishiba offered his congratulations to Lee on his victory in the presidential election, and said, "I would like to extend my heartfelt condolences to the people of Japan and Korea who have built up the foundation of Japan-Korea relations since the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1965.
"I hope that Japan and South Korea will cooperate as partners in addressing various issues facing the international community," he said, regarding future Japan-South Korea relations.
He also mentioned the possibility of a summit meeting with Lee, saying, "It would be best to hold one as soon as possible," and expressed his desire to "stimulate cooperation between Japan and South Korea and between Japan, the United States and South Korea."
Regarding foreign policy, Lee expressed his intention to shift away from the "value diplomacy" of the previous Yoon administration, which placed "values" at the center of diplomacy, and to develop a "pragmatic diplomacy" that prioritizes "national interests."
Lee has taken a tough stance toward Japan in the past, but recently he has emphasized his intention to place importance on Japan-South Korea relations.
2025/06/09 10:58 KST
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