South Korean President hosts initial summit with Pacific island leaders | World News

South Korean President hosts initial summit with Pacific island leaders | World News [ad_1]

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hosted the country's initial summit with leaders of Pacific islands on Monday, as Seoul seeks to improve its affect in a location that has turn into the concentration of intensive geopolitical rivalry.

South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol, 2nd proper, speaks as Pacific Islands Discussion board (PIF) chair and Key Minister of Prepare dinner Islands, Mark Stephen Brown, 2nd still left, listens in the course of the Korea-Pacific Islands Summit.(AP)

As the leaders agreed to boost initiatives to battle local weather modify, South Korea will also take into account added funding initiatives to help the Pacific location, Yoon's office environment explained.

Yoon introduced his administration's Indo-Pacific technique past yr, pledging to foster a "absolutely free, tranquil and affluent" location designed on a guidelines-dependent buy, amid issues in excess of China's safety ambitions for the strategic waters and financial leverage among the the little island states.

"The summit nowadays will mark a new commencing of cooperation amongst South Korea and the Pacific islands," Yoon explained in his opening remarks.

Previously, Yoon held bilateral talks with various leaders like Kiribati President Taneti Maamau and Papua New Guinean Key Minister James Marape on concerns this sort of as fisheries and local weather modify forward of the principal summit, his office environment explained.

Mark Brown, primary minister of the Prepare dinner Islands, advised the summit opening that the problems dealing with the location ended up "extensive and sophisticated" and talks would also deal with parts this sort of as catastrophe possibility and resilience, ocean governance and maritime affairs.

Brown is chair of the eighteen-member Pacific Islands Discussion board (PIF).

South Korea's Indo-Pacific technique also sees increased scope for trilateral cooperation with the United States and Australia to deal with regional problems this sort of as provide chains, crucial minerals and local weather modify.

Nonetheless, whilst the Yoon government’s technique suggests nearer alignment with the U.S, "South Korea ought to however go cautiously amongst the two good electric power rivals supplied Seoul’s much larger financial and geopolitical stakes in China relative to other U.S. allies”, explained Andrew Yeo, a Senior Fellow at U.S. assume tank Brookings Establishment.

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles will show up at the summit, his office environment explained, introducing it would exhibit cooperation amongst PIF and South Korea for a safe location.

Australia and New Zealand are the biggest customers of the discussion board, a bloc of largely little island nations around the world at possibility from climbing sea stages brought about by local weather modify and reliant on assist from growth companions.

The bloc has taken a collective strategy to working with main powers. Indian Key Minister Narendra Modi pledged much more trade and growth aid in a summit with a dozen Pacific island leaders in Papua New Guinea (PNG) past 7 days. The United States Secretary of Point out Antony Blinken also signed a defence arrangement with PNG soon after a Pacific summit.

Micronesia could not show up at the summit in Korea because of to a storm, but on the sidelines of the assembly Seoul formally proven diplomatic ties with Niue, a self-governing point out that is in absolutely free affiliation with New Zealand, Yoon's office environment explained.

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