Democratic Party: "Yoon Government's IPEF Participation Expected to Trigger China Backlash... Must Have Adequate Countermeasures for Aftermath"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The Democratic Party of Korea stated regarding the summit between President Yoon Seok-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden that they "expect the strengthening and expansion of the South Korea-U.S. alliance."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 21st, Ko Yong-jin, the spokesperson for the election campaign committee, emphasized in a written briefing that "at the first summit held amid escalating threats from North Korea, the South Korea-U.S. leaders reaffirmed the solidity of the alliance." Ko added, "It is welcome that the alliance between the two countries is further strengthened and developed," and said, "It is fortunate that President Yoon appears to be inheriting and advancing the South Korea-U.S. alliance expanded by the Moon Jae-in administration."

He stated, "We hope that this South Korea-U.S. summit will broaden the horizon of bilateral cooperation in various fields in an era where the economy and security are converging."

Ko also expressed concern, saying, "Since the tangible outcomes of the South Korea-U.S. summit are unclear, there are worries that President Yoon Seok-yeol's first summit with the U.S. was merely a ceremonial event," and added, "Especially, participation in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), the core agenda of this summit, is expected to provoke backlash from China, which has publicly expressed concerns."

He noted, "Participation in IPEF will inevitably have a significant impact on economic relations with China," and said, "We hope the Yoon Seok-yeol administration has sufficient countermeasures prepared for the aftershocks resulting from abandoning balanced diplomacy."

Regarding the North Korean nuclear issue, he criticized, "The response to North Korea's nuclear threat remained political rhetoric, and there was no creative solution to resolve the threat," and pointed out, "The active will to solve the North Korean nuclear issue is also unclear."

He continued, "The expansion of South Korea-U.S. nuclear cooperation is still controversial in the international community as to whether nuclear power generation is a core technology for carbon neutrality," and said, "We will watch closely to see if the government is pushing forward a nuclear power expansion policy that goes against the trend of the times by emphasizing cooperation with the U.S."