Foreign Minister Park Jin arrives in Bali today and starts schedule… Coordinating the Korea-China-Korea-US-Japan talks
The foreign ministers of the 20 major countries (G20) will gather in Bali, Indonesia for two days from the 7th, amid the fact that the international community is becoming clearer due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the strategic competition between the US and China.
After visiting Singapore, Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin will arrive in Bali on the same day and will begin the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting to be held on the 7th and 8th, and various multilateral and bilateral talks using this as an opportunity.
It is the first time Park has attended a multilateral foreign ministers’ meeting since taking office.
In this G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting, not only South Korea, but also all G20 foreign ministers from the United States, Japan, China and Russia will participate in person.
In particular, it is noteworthy that both the Korea-China bilateral talks and the Korea-US-Japan trilateral talks are being promoted during this meeting.
At the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit at the end of last month, the Yun Seok-yeol administration made clear the direction of ‘value diplomacy’ to keep pace with the West, including the United States, and strengthened the restoration of trilateral security cooperation through the Korea-U.S.-Japan summit.
The Korea-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is expected to serve as an opportunity to reveal more concretely China’s response to the new government’s diplomatic direction.
It is the first time Minister Park Jin has met with Wang Yi, a member of the State Council for Foreign Affairs and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China.
In the midst of the US-China competition, as the new government puts more weight on the principle of ‘value diplomacy’, it is inevitable to re-establish relations with China to some extent.
If the Korea-China foreign ministers’ meeting is held, it is expected to be the first test to determine whether the issue can be resolved smoothly.
It is also expected that there will be an exchange of views on issues on the Korean Peninsula, such as measures to deter North Korean provocations, and plans for the two countries to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Korea and China, which is approaching on the 24th of next month.
If the Korea-U.S.-Japan foreign ministers’ meeting is held, it is expected that discussions will take place to materialize the consensus on North Korea’s nuclear cooperation and security cooperation prepared at the trilateral summit on the 29th of last month.
At the summit at that time, the three countries agreed to closely consult on ways to raise the level of trilateral security cooperation to respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, so there is a possibility that the foreign ministers will have a follow-up discussion.
It is also meaningful that the momentum of strengthening cooperation will continue as the ministers of the three countries are reuniting after a week or so of the summit meeting.
Minister Park will also attend the MIKTA Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on the 7th, which consists of five countries: South Korea, Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey, and Australia.
It is meaningful that five countries with ‘middle power’ positions are discussing international issues together while the so-called superpower politics based on geopolitics are being strengthened in the international community.
Meanwhile, the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which begins with a welcome reception on the afternoon, is attracting international attention as an event where the western side, including US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln, meets with China’s Director Wang Yi, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in one place. .
The G20 is a consultative body in which advanced countries represented by the G7 (seven major countries) and major emerging market countries discuss international economic cooperation together, so the participating countries span several camps.
At a time when the so-called new Cold War structure became clearer due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, foreign ministers from opposing camps were gathered in one conference hall.
This is the first time Lavrov has appeared in a multilateral foreign ministerial meeting with the West since the invasion of Ukraine.
Western countries are likely to seek to send a coordinated and united message to Russia in response to the perception that it should not be dealing with Russia ‘business as usual’.
It is also interesting to see how Korea keeps pace here.
/yunhap news
