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German Economy Minister Robert Habeck stated on Thursday during a visit to the area that Germany and South Korea share the objective of diversifying away from China, expanding their raw material suppliers, and decreasing their reliance on vital products.
Habeck visited South Korea as part of the first leg of his Asia tour. While in Beijing, he is anticipated to discuss China’s relations with Russia and assist in handling the consequences from the growing dispute over European Union tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
“South Korea has a similar economic policy to Germany, it focuses on trade,” Habeck said in Seoul. “It is a country that relies on markets being open and protectionist tendencies being pushed back as far as possible.”
Habeck said he also pressed South Korea to stop work on LNG vessels for Russia under contracts agreed before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“But there is a good chance that these ships will not be delivered,” Habeck said. “That would be very much in the interests of all the countries that apply sanctions to Russia.”
Habeck’s trip came in the same week that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea to agree a landmark military assistance pact, with deepening defence cooperation between the countries raising alarm bells in Washington and Seoul.
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View All“The militarization from North Korea and the cooperation with Russia with the circumvention of sanctions is of real concern for me and I think for the whole world,” Habeck said, adding his concern was shared by South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.
Habeck is travelling with a delegation of small and medium enterprises from different sectors and the day started with a roundtable for companies.
“Half of them already have a location in South Korea, while the other half want to explore the market, want to understand how the system works and what market opportunities there are,” Habeck said.
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