“It is not a matter of choosing between the two countries” |

Attending the G20… Interview with Brazilian media

“For Korea, it is not a matter of having to choose between the two countries (the US and China).”

On the 18th (local time), President Yoon Seok-yeol said in a written interview with the Brazilian media ‘U Globu’ and ‘Polya de São Paulo’, “I hope that the U.S.-China relationship will develop in a direction that contributes to the peace and prosperity of the international community, and in the process, Korea “We will continue to cooperate closely with both the United States and China,” he said. President Yoon is visiting Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to attend the G20 summit, which will be held for two days starting on the 18th.

Regarding the diplomatic stance of our government, he said, “With the ROK-US alliance as the basic axis, we are trying to continue to communicate and develop relationships with China in a way that is helpful to the peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region and the international community.” However, he said, “I am confident that as members of the alliance, I and the President-elect of the United States will do more together, not only for the people of our two countries, but also for peace and prosperity on a global level.” He emphasized, “We will deepen strategic cooperation in various fields and contribute to the prosperity of the Intai region and the international community.” President Yoon also criticized the North Korea-Russia illegal military cooperation as a “red flag,” saying, “At the cost of Russia-North Korea closeness, we will seek to advance military technology and use Russia as our backend to carry out more intense provocations.”

Analysis suggests that President Yoon’s remarks are an expression of President Yoon’s will to pursue practical interests between the U.S. and China, as the conflict between the U.S. and China is expected to intensify with the inauguration of the second Trump administration. So far, President Yoon has focused on building the ROK-US alliance and the Korea-U.S.-Japan triangular alliance, but with changes in the situation, such as former President Donald Trump’s return to power and increased security threats due to military closeness between North Korea and Russia, there is a need to manage relations with China. This means it has grown. As uncertainty has grown as President-elect Trump, who views alliances as a transactional relationship, has increased the level of pressure on issues such as defense spending, it appears that there is an intention to expand the scope of maneuver by improving relations with China.

Previously, a high-ranking official from the President’s Office met with reporters after the summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the 15th and said, “The Korea-China relationship and the Korea-US relationship should not be understood as an equation of conflict and conflict.” “If there is any cooperation, it will be beneficial to Korean companies and from our perspective, it would be good if it would also help Korea-China relations, so we will strengthen Korea-China communication and Korea-U.S. communication to find such points of contact,” he said.