President Yun Seok-yeol (right), who is visiting Spain to attend the NATO summit, takes a commemorative photo with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the Korea-Netherlands summit held at a hotel in Madrid city on the 29th (local time). have. [사진=연합뉴스]
‘Ahn Mi-kyung-jung’ (the United States for security, China for the economy) has become a thing of the past. The government is expanding the scope of cooperation with Europe, moving beyond the ‘mi-gyeong-mi’ (security and economy of the United States). At the NATO summit, where President Yun Seok-yeol made his debut in multilateral diplomacy, this principle was further strengthened.
On the 30th (local time), President Yoon returned home from a NATO tour of 5 days and 3 nights in Madrid, Spain. ‘Sales diplomacy’ to reduce dependence on exports to China, which accounts for 25% of annual exports, was the key to this tour.
The fields in which sales diplomacy worked are the semiconductor, nuclear power generation, and defense industries. After holding bilateral talks and meetings with the heads of seven countries during the tour, President Yun met with French President Emmanuel Macron to expand cooperation on nuclear power plants. France declared a ‘nuclear renaissance’ in February this year. Realizing the importance of energy independence due to the Ukraine crisis, they decided to build 14 nuclear power plants by 2050.
Poland, which announced plans to build six nuclear power plants worth 40 trillion won through the ‘2040 National Energy Policy Amendment’ last year, is also a partner country. At a summit meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda, President Yoon discussed the issue of nuclear power and defense exports. During his presidential campaign, President Yoon promised to ‘abolish the nuclear-free policy’.
At a local briefing, Choi Sang-mok, chief of the presidential economy, said, “Participation in this NATO summit is the beginning of a top-level sales diplomacy for a new major export business. will be added,” he said.
Semiconductor industry cooperation reached out to the Netherlands. At a summit meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, President Yoon requested domestic investment from a global semiconductor equipment company ‘ASML’ and said, “Semiconductor equipment companies such as ASML will contribute to the establishment of a stable supply chain.” As the company exclusively supplies extreme ultraviolet (EUV) exposure equipment essential for micro-processing, the competition to strengthen cooperation with ASML is fierce in the semiconductor industry. Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong also recently visited ASML.
The government is planning to maintain the current policy of leaving China even in the face of retaliation, such as in the case of the THAAD system. As a result, China did not hide its discomfort about Yun’s diplomatic activities after taking office. Participating in the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), followed by the NATO summit, will harm the relationship of trust between the two countries. China’s state-run Global Times reported that “bringing NATO into the Asia-Pacific region is as unwise as attracting wolves” and “will come at a price.”
Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming (邢海明) also argued that NATO should stop provocative words and actions toward the public in relation to NATO’s adoption of a strategic concept to contain China at the summit. Ambassador Xing said, “I firmly oppose the NATO summit that China is a ‘systemic challenge’,” he said.
- reporter information
- labor union
- felizkj@ajunews.com
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