Papal Meeting Draws Attention to North Korea Visit Message... Cheong: "Diplomatic Issue Between North Korea and Vatican Holy See"
[Asia Economy Reporters Ryu Jeong-min and Lee Ji-eun] President Moon Jae-in departed on the 28th to attend the Group of Twenty (G20) summit held in Rome, Italy.
On the 29th (local time), President Moon will make an official visit to the Vatican and meet with Pope Francis. Attention is focused on whether a Korea-Japan summit with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio will be arranged during President Moon’s European tour.
Following the G20 summit, President Moon will attend the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, from November 1 to 2, and will make a state visit to Hungary. Among the 7-night, 9-day European tour schedule, the highlight is the meeting with Pope Francis. Minister of Unification Lee In-young will also accompany the president on this trip.
Interest centers on what message Pope Francis, who expressed his willingness to visit North Korea in 2018, will convey to President Moon and how their dialogue will impact issues on the Korean Peninsula.
Park Soo-hyun, Senior Secretary for Public Communication at the Blue House, said in a YTN radio interview on the same day, "Basically, this is a diplomatic matter between North Korea and the Vatican." After news of the papal meeting spread, raising expectations for resolving Korean Peninsula issues, there appears to have been an effort to moderate the tone.
President Moon’s European tour coincides with international events involving major world leaders, so various forms of summit meetings are expected. In particular, there is a possibility of a meeting with Prime Minister Kishida at COP26. If it takes place, it will be the first Korea-Japan summit in about 1 year and 11 months since the Korea-Japan summit held during the Korea-China-Japan summit in December 2019.
Although a summit with former Prime Minister Suga was planned around the G7 summit in June, it was canceled unilaterally by the Japanese side and did not take place. However, since Prime Minister Kishida inherits the positions of his predecessor on major diplomatic issues such as historical matters, some analysts believe that even if the summit occurs, it will be difficult to expect substantial progress in relations.
Meanwhile, at COP26, President Moon is expected to announce the ‘2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)’ to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% compared to 2018 levels by 2030.
During the state visit to Hungary, time has been set aside to visit a memorial space for the victims of the 2019 ship accident. In addition, President Moon will hold a summit meeting with Hungarian President ?der, and attend the Visegr?d Group summit and business forum, which includes Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland.
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