Focused Discussions on Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific Region Expected... Economic Cooperation Areas Such as Hydrogen Vehicles and Batteries May Be Addressed
(Madrid, Spain = Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan) President Yoon Seok-yeol, who visited Madrid, Spain to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, is highly likely to engage in 'sales diplomacy' from the first day. Originally, President Yoon was scheduled to start his first agenda with a summit meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinist?, but it was canceled due to scheduling issues, and instead, he will hold a summit meeting with Australian Prime Minister Norman Albanese. South Korea and Australia have been discussing expanding economic cooperation since the previous administration.
According to the presidential office on the 28th, the meeting between President Yoon and Prime Minister Albanese was arranged as both governments agreed to strengthen cooperation within the Indo-Pacific region. A presidential office official explained, "Australia also inaugurated a new government on May 23, and our government was inaugurated on May 10, so we plan to discuss regional cooperation measures in line with the launch of the new governments of both countries."
Australia was invited to this NATO summit as an Asia-Pacific partner country along with South Korea, Japan, and New Zealand. In particular, Australia is a member of the Quad, a four-nation military consultative group formed by the United States together with Japan and India to counter China's maritime expansion policy. Therefore, this meeting is expected to discuss close cooperation within the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), launched under U.S. leadership to contain China.
There is also a possibility of in-depth discussions on economic cooperation. A key presidential office official said, "Depending on the situation of the meeting, detailed discussions may continue, so we are preparing on our side as well." In fact, South Korea and Australia have been conducting intergovernmental discussions to strengthen cooperation in advanced industries such as the hydrogen economy. At last year's G7 summit held in the United Kingdom, South Korea agreed to expand economic cooperation with Australia through hydrogen vehicles and batteries, while Australia focused on hydrogen energy production.
Moreover, South Korea possesses leading technologies in hydrogen and fuel cells and needs to strengthen cooperation with hydrogen-producing countries to achieve the goal of 50% overseas hydrogen utilization by 2030. Australia is also pursuing a position as a global hydrogen production hub. Although both countries have new governments, support for fostering new industries continues. President Yoon also selected semiconductors and nuclear power as key national industries immediately after taking office and promised government-wide support.
Therefore, through this summit, the two leaders can discuss mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries related to low-carbon technologies such as hydrogen production and utilization, as well as active exchanges among governments, companies, and research institutions.
After the meeting with the Australian leader, President Yoon is expected to bring up nuclear power exports at meetings with the leaders of the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. Recently, President Yoon visited nuclear power industry sites and stated, "I will run around in every way to promote nuclear power sales." He will also engage in cooperation to foster the semiconductor industry. With the Netherlands, a key country in the semiconductor industry, the two countries will reaffirm ways to expand cooperation in the semiconductor sector, and with Canada, they plan to share opinions on economic agendas such as electric vehicles, batteries, and artificial intelligence, while with Denmark, they will discuss renewable energy.
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