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| Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha walks through Incheon International Airport, Sunday, before leaving for Germany to have talks with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas Monday in Berlin. This was Kang's first overseas trip in nearly six months, as overseas travel and face-to-face meetings have been put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yonhap |
By Jung Da-min
Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha may seek Germany's support to expand the Group of Seven framework so Korea can be included in the group of advanced economies.
Kang flew to Berlin, Sunday, to hold talks with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas Monday, according to the foreign ministry.
This was Kang's first overseas trip since late February when she participated in a United Nations meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, and met Maas in Germany.
Among the issues for the talks between the top diplomats would be the expansion of the G7 ― a suggestion floated by U.S. President Donald Trump, but reportedly opposed by Germany and other G7 members, said a foreign ministry official.
"Kang will discuss a range of diplomatic issues with her German counterpart. Since Korea has been invited to the G7 summit (to be held in the U.S.), the two top diplomats could exchange their opinions on the matter," the official told reporters, Friday.
On May 30, while announcing the delay of the upcoming G7 summit in Washington to September due to concerns over the COVID-19 spread, Trump said he thought the G7 should be expanded to include other countries.
He repeated the idea during a phone call with President Moon Jae-in the next day, saying he would like to invite leaders from Korea, Australia, India and Russia to this year's summit, an offer Moon accepted. Trump called the current G7 system "obsolete" and said it needed to become a G11 or G12 to properly represent what was happening in the world.
But Germany has expressed opposition to such an expansion of the G7, citing Russia's annexation of Crimea and intervention in eastern Ukraine as the reasons.
"The G7 and G20 are two sensibly coordinated formats. We don't need a G11 or a G12," Maas said in an interview last month, although he did not mention whether Berlin specifically opposed the participation of Korea.
Asides from Germany's opposition to the expansion of the G7, Japan has delivered its message of opposition against the participation of Korea, saying its diplomatic approaches toward China and North Korea were different from that of the G7.
Despite such opposition, Korea has reaffirmed it would actively respond to Trump's proposal for a G7 expansion. "If we participate (in this year's G7 summit), we need to seek relevant negotiations in order for Korea to take part in it every year," National Security Office Deputy Director Kim Hyun-chong said, July 28. "We also need to discuss in what capacity we will be taking part," he added.
Kang and Mass will also discuss bilateral cooperation in response to COVID-19, and how to continue people-to-people exchanges and bilateral trade during the pandemic.
The U.S.' recent decision to pull out 12,000 troops from Germany could also be discussed during the talks. Announcing in late July that the move would begin within months, Trump told reporters that Berlin was being "delinquent" by not spending enough on defense. The decision has drawn concerns in Korea over a possible withdrawal of the United States Forces Korea, as the country is yet to reach an agreement with the U.S. in this year's defense cost-sharing talks.
On returning to Korea, Tuesday, Kang will undergo a COVID-19 test at the airport and will be exempted from two-weeks self-quarantine if testing negative. However, she will work from home and minimize meetings with others for several days, according to the ministry.
