Why Australia, Once Closing Borders, Requested President Moon's State Visit (Summary)

청와대 "In Response to Australian Prime Minister's Repeated Requests"... Both Countries Share Consensus on Economic Recovery and Creating Future Growth Engines

[Asia Economy reporters Ryu Jeong-min and Lee Ji-eun] "Australia has repeatedly conveyed its position that it is making every effort to ensure the safety of our delegation through quarantine measures and other precautions, and requests that the visit proceed as planned."

A senior Blue House official said this on the 8th during a meeting with reporters regarding the background of President Moon Jae-in's state visit to Australia on the 12th. President Moon is scheduled to make a 3-night, 4-day state visit to Australia.

The visit was arranged at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The view of the Blue House from Namsan, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Why did Australia, which had been strict with COVID-19 quarantine measures to the extent of closing its borders, invite a foreign head of state (President Moon) for the first time since the pandemic? Given that both South Korea and Australia have experienced difficulties due to the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, there is keen interest in the background of the meeting between the two leaders.

The reason Australia put great effort into inviting President Moon relates to the shared understanding between the two countries on economic recovery and creating future growth engines. A senior Blue House official expressed, "President Moon's state visit to Australia is in response to repeated invitations from the Australian Prime Minister, and it is expected that this visit will strengthen various cooperations such as global supply chains, defense industry, economy, and human exchanges."

The senior Blue House official explained, "The government's top priority is responding to COVID-19. However, economic recovery must also be pursued intensively. Through the visit to Australia, we expect economic recovery and the creation of future growth engines by establishing stable supply chains for key minerals and strengthening cooperation in future industry sectors."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

South Korea is Australia's 4th largest trading partner. Australia is South Korea's 8th largest trading partner. Human exchanges between the two countries were active, reaching up to 400,000 people annually before COVID-19. The Blue House explained that the two countries need each other to overcome the economic crisis caused by COVID-19.

A senior Blue House official said, "Australia is a traditional ally that participated in the Korean War and is one of the countries with the most active exchanges in defense and security," adding, "It was the first country to offer support during the recent shortage of urea solution."

The senior Blue House official stated, "During this visit, it is expected that a new growth cooperation platform will be created in areas such as clean energy, artificial intelligence, digital technology, trade, and space, based on the complementary industrial structures of the two countries, presenting a direction for shared prosperity."

The senior Blue House official added, "Australia is South Korea's number one supplier of mineral resources. In a situation where demand for rare earth elements such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel?raw materials for electric vehicles and secondary batteries?is expected to increase significantly, Australia is a country of high strategic cooperation value."