Yoon Hee-sook "G7 Key Point? The Meeting of South Korea, US, and Japan Leaders Themselves"

Former Lawmaker Yoon Hee-sook, SBS Radio Interview
"US Supply Chain Restructuring... Korea Also Needs Structural Reform"

President Yoon Suk-yeol is participating in the Group of Seven (G7) summit as an invited guest country, while former People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Hee-sook called the meeting of the South Korea-U.S.-Japan leaders "highly symbolic" and pointed to the trilateral summit as a key highlight of this G7 summit.

Former lawmaker Yoon appeared on SBS Radio's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show' on the 19th and said, "The most important thing is that we were invited to the G7 and attended," adding, "Being able to enter the G7 platform, which establishes the order of the world's liberal democratic countries, is a very significant hope."

Regarding the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's diplomatic direction, including international solidarity for freedom and contribution diplomacy, former lawmaker Yoon said, "Our country has now grown too large and has become a nation that the whole world is paying attention to, so moving too lightly by attaching ourselves here and there does not suit us well. It shows that our country has its own principles and values."

Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Hee-sook. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

She continued, "We will continue diplomacy and economic cooperation with China and Russia as well, and in this polarized world, our country's goal now is to create our own space so that neither side acts like bullies."

Former lawmaker Yoon emphasized the need for South Korea's structural change amid the U.S.-led supply chain reorganization. She explained, "In the past, the U.S. outsourced manufacturing to other countries and only handled the highest value-added parts, but now, in this situation, they are telling us to bring all production back to the U.S."

She said, "For our country to find practical benefits in this changing world, our internal decisions must be flexible. Labor and capital need to adapt flexibly, and to make the supply chain reorganization advantageous to us, we need to reform our structure now."

Former lawmaker Yoon added, "We need to create a system where companies want to come to our country and produce within it," emphasizing, "This directly leads to structural reform issues. The world keeps changing, and our ability lies in utilizing these changes to our advantage."