After attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, President Yoon Seok-yeol, who has returned to South Korea, is set to embark on diplomatic engagements this week, focusing on ‘economic recovery.’
According to the presidential office on November 19, President Yoon, who shared his ideas on restoring the multilateral trading system, constructing supply chains, and contributing to overcoming the climate crisis during the APEC summit in San Francisco, will continue his efforts to foster economic cooperation and win support for the 2030 World Expo during his state visits to the UK and France scheduled for November 20-26.
In his first APEC summit since taking office, President Yoon emphasized strengthening ‘connectivity’ in areas such as trade, investment and supply chains, digital, and future generations. Citing the need to accelerate global economic connectivity through APEC as a means for the world economy to recover its dynamism and continue sustainable growth, President Yoon also proposed initiatives such as a young scientists exchange initiative and a smart mobility special initiative.
In the first session of the APEC summit, President Yoon stressed the need to overcome the climate crisis, stating, “We are currently facing uncertainty in the world economy and an unprecedented global composite crisis.” He also revealed his plan to contribute responsibly to bridging the climate gap, which includes spreading the use of carbon-free energy, establishing green shipping routes, contributing $300 million to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and sharing climate recovery experiences and knowledge through the APEC Climate Center.
In the second session, President Yoon emphasized the need for international cooperation to strengthen ‘intra-regional supply chain connectivity’ and the restoration of a ‘norm-based’ trade order, and also urged interest in establishing norms and governance related to artificial intelligence (AI) and digital.
In particular, President Yoon, pointing out that ‘economic policy unpredictability’ contradicts the spirit of multilateralism and free trade, emphasized that “APEC should prioritize strengthening supply chain resilience, such as establishing an early warning system to deal with supply chain disruptions.”
President Yoon attended the second summit of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) to discuss the construction of a stable core mineral supply chain, the activation of human exchanges, and the expansion of cooperation in energy security and technology. In this IPEF, agreements or discussions were made in various fields such as supply chains, clean economy, and trade.
During the APEC summit, President Yoon met with key business leaders, including Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, and Sifan Amin, Senior Vice President of GM, and promised active support for investment in Korea. He also met with the future generation of Korean-Americans and pledged to continuously innovate the national research and development (R&D) support system.
During the APEC summit, President Yoon held consecutive summits with Peru, Japan, Chile, and Vietnam, discussing ways to strengthen cooperation in areas such as core minerals, supply chains, and youth exchanges. In particular, South Korea and Japan agreed to actively promote cooperation in startups and hydrogen.
On November 17 (local time), President Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a roundtable at Stanford University on the topic of ‘Korea-Japan and Korea-US-Japan cooperation in advanced technology.’ Separately, after concluding the IPEF summit on the afternoon of the 16th, President Yoon also met separately with U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Kishida. He also had a brief meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In addition, during the APEC summit, President Yoon once again warned of recent military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, and also made efforts to attract the 2030 Expo to Busan.
On the 19th, President Yoon will receive a report on domestic issues such as the paralysis of the administrative computer network and check the economic situation, taking care of the people’s livelihood issues. In relation to this, President Yoon directed the operation of a government joint TF from the U.S. on the 17th (local time).
Meanwhile, President Yoon will depart for a state visit to the UK and a visit to France on the 20th. During his state visit to the UK, President Yoon will focus on securing new markets, cooperating on advanced industrial supply chains, cooperating on advanced science and technology, and solidarity on carbon-free energy.
During his state visit to the UK, President Yoon is scheduled to attend a summit, a Korea-UK business forum attended by over 200 business leaders from both countries, a science and technology future forum hosted by the Royal Society of the UK, and a banquet hosted by the Mayor of the London Financial Special Zone.
On the 23rd, President Yoon will move to Paris, France, and meet with representatives of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) based in Paris to make a final push for the 2030 Busan Expo.
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