President Yoon warns of North Korea-Russia cooperation at APEC…asks for support for Busan Expo (synthesis).

(San Francisco= Yonhap News) Reporters An Yong-su and Jeong Ah-ran = On the 16th (local time), President Yoon Seok-yeol held consecutive summits with Peru, Japan, Chile, Vietnam, and others in San Francisco, USA, where he attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Through these meetings, he emphasized the threat of recent military cooperation between North Korea and Russia to global security, while also working to secure the support of various countries for the hosting of the 2030 World Expo in Busan.

Kim Tae-hyo, the first deputy director of the National Security Office, said in a local press room briefing on the same day, “In today’s consecutive meetings, President Yoon emphasized that the military cooperation between North Korea and Russia is a threat to global security and discussed cooperative measures against illegal cooperation that undermines the normative order.”

However, Deputy Director Kim did not disclose the specific contents of the conversation between the leaders.

Deputy Director Kim explained, “The content of cooperation varies depending on the country we talk to, and how each country should cooperate to limit and prevent illegal activities is a security issue. Most of them agree.”

In an interview with the Associated Press reported on the 14th, President Yoon also said, “North Korea and Russia’s pursuit of military cooperation, which is prohibited by the UN Security Council resolution, seriously threatens not only the Korean Peninsula but also Northeast Asia and European security, and undermines the international order based on universal norms.”

In his first summit with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, President Yoon agreed to strengthen cooperation in various fields such as defense, supply chains, development cooperation, and infrastructure.

The summit between the two countries, which are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year, was the first in eight years since 2015.

The leaders of both countries agreed to cooperate more closely on global issues as Peru and Korea will chair APEC next year and the year after, respectively.

At the meeting, President Yoon requested support for the hosting of the Busan Expo and expressed his gratitude for Peru’s supportive position.

President Yoon also held his first summit since taking office with Chilean President Gabriel Boric.

The presidential office explained that the two leaders reaffirmed that both countries are key cooperation countries in Central and South America that share universal values, and agreed to strengthen cooperation in various fields such as defense, core minerals such as lithium, trade and investment, infrastructure, operation and joint research of Antarctic bases.

The two leaders agreed to deepen cooperation on global issues by conducting negotiations on the Korea-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

In particular, President Yoon expressed his hope to establish a ‘core mineral partnership’ with Chile, the world’s largest lithium holder.

Following Peru, President Yoon also requested Chile’s support for the hosting of the Busan Expo.

A conversation between President Yoon and Vietnamese President Vo Van Truong took place for about 15 minutes before the start of ‘Session 1’ of the APEC summit.

The two leaders agreed to systematically promote government and corporate exchanges for the growth momentum of trade and investment in semiconductors and automobiles, and to expand support for youth exchange activities.

President Truong said, “After the state visit, the response from the Vietnamese people has been very large, and the national interest and enthusiasm for Korean and Korea have grown even more,” and conveyed his greetings wishing for the successful hosting of the Busan Expo in Korea.

In the keynote speech of ‘Session 1’ discussing the response to the climate crisis, President Yoon said, “Busan, where the APEC Climate Center is located, will be a platform for solidarity and cooperation in seeking solutions to immediate challenges including the climate crisis,” and promoted ‘Busan’ as a candidate city for the Expo.

aayyss@yna.co.kr