2023-05-21 10:25:58
POLITICS
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in South Korea on Sunday for talks with President Yoon Suk Yeol after attending the G7 summit in Hiroshima.
Published: 21 May 2023 10:26 CEST
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (C) and his wife Britta Ernst (L) arrive at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam on May 21, 2023. Photo: Jung Yeon-je /AFP.
Scholz, the first German chancellor to visit Seoul for a bilateral meeting in 30 years, will travel to the Demilitarised Zone dividing North and South Korea ahead of his summit with Yoon.
The two leaders will hold a joint news conference before Scholz flies out late Sunday night.
The summit agenda will range widely from climate change to security policy in the Indo-Pacific region, with the two leaders also expected to discuss the war in Ukraine, German officials said in a briefing last week.
South Korea, the world’s ninth-largest arms exporter, has sent humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and has also sold tanks and howitzers to Poland.
However, it has a longstanding policy of not providing weapons to active conflict zones.
An official from the German government told reporters the two leaders will discuss Seoul’s plans for providing further assistance to Ukraine.
“We have recently heard from President Yoon — this was also public — that there were certain considerations or a certain easing in this direction,” the official said.
“I do not expect us to press him in this direction, but we will of course listen carefully to what he has to say on this issue.”
Yoon held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima Sunday. That followed a meeting with his wife, First Lady Olena Zelenska, last week.
South Korea’s presidential office said Scholz’s visit will be an “opportunity to strengthen economic security cooperation with Germany, a long-standing ally sharing universal values, and to deepen solidarity and coordination to respond to regional and international issues”.
Scholz praised Seoul for providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine and participating in sanctions against Russia.
He also said in a written interview with South Korea’s Yonhap news agency that it was up to each nation to determine how they would help Ukraine.
In the same interview, Scholz also condemned North Korea’s weapons tests but said it was important to leave a window open for dialogue.
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