On-point: Wrap up of Pres. Yoon's week at 2024 NATO Summit

윤대통령, 나토정상회의 외교 총정리 글로벌 연대로 안보 강화
President Yoon Suk Yeol last Friday wrapped up his week with visits to Hawaii and then Washington, D.C. to attend the annual NATO Summit for the third consecutive year. Although South Korea is an invited partner country, there was significant interest in its role in global security, amid growing concerns over the recent treaty between Russia and North Korea forging economic and military ties.
We have our correspondent Oh Soo-young who was there to cover the weeklong summitry.
Welcome back, Soo-young.
Q1. The Russia-North Korea issue was at the heart of the discussion at the NATO summit last week.
Let's start with that.
Sure, Dami. President Yoon's message was clear: That Russia and North Korea's collaboration poses a threat to the broader international community,.. not just the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Pacific.
North Korea's ammunition helps sustain Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and any economic or military aid from the Kremlin to the Kim Jong-un regime would increase its nuclear and missile threat in the Indo-Pacific.
Now this resonated with NATO leaders as they acknowledged the connection between Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security.
That's why there was a significant spotlight on NATO's Indo-Pacific Four partners invited to the summit for the third straight year South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
If you remember, I covered the summit last year and saw the gathering of the leaders myself but this year, their presence was not just a sideline event.
The Indo-Pacific countries were at the center of the conversation in addressing the war in Ukraine, and the threat of authoritarian players like Russia, North Korea, China, and Iran aligning more strongly against the free world.
Q2. In that sense, President Yoon made a clear stand for the free world and his pledges stood out.
Yes, even before he arrived in Washington, D.C., Yoon's stopover in Hawaii, where he visited the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command was noted with interest by media as he reaffirmed Seoul's commitment to regional and global peace and stability, and sent a strong message of strength and force against the Russia-Korea axis.
In D.C., he and President Biden also welcomed the guidelines adopted on the bilateral Nuclear Consultative Group formed last year to enhance South Korea's involvement in U.S. nuclear planning and operations, with leader-level consultations as well.
At the NATO Summit, he gained solidarity from the 32-member bloc and Indo-Pacific countries, which both condemned the Russia-North Korea treaty in their joint statements. In his speech to NATO allies and partners, Yoon said it's because of enablers like North Korea supplying Moscow that the war in Ukraine has stretched on. He then pledged to double South Korea's contribution towards a trust fund for Ukraine that provides non-lethal military supplies.
President Yoon has said Seoul will consider arming Ukraine, but that depends on the level of Moscow and Pyongyang's cooperation.
"So we may want him to send weapons directly to Ukraine, but that would be against South Korean law. They would have to change the law first. And aside from maybe the US and others, I see few countries doing as much as South Korea to replenish European armaments that are supplying Ukraine. And certainly he's saying all the right things and contributing humanitarian relief and arms to the country's helping Ukraine."
President Yoon also met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and they welcomed the agreements South Korea made with the 32-member alliance:
First, sharing South Korea's information on North Korea's weapons
and NATO's analysis of those found in Ukraine, which helps them build a clearer picture of how to respond to the Russia-North Korea collaboration, and draw up more elaborate measures.
Also, mutually recognizing airworthiness certificates means NATO will accept South Korea's domestically certified aircraft.
This would increase interoperability and market opportunities.
Q3. Right. Yoon's office said it will strengthen cooperation with NATO countries economically too.
Yes that's why he held over ten summits on the sidelines of NATO. As South Korea has a diverse portfolio of advanced industries and technologies that link to both national and economic security, it offers many areas of partnership from co-developing defense technology to building infrastructure with Finland, nuclear energy plants with the Czech Republic, space cooperation with Sweden, and the list goes on.
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2024-07-15, 09:00 (KST)