[앵커]
At this week’s Korea-US summit, a new economic partnership led by the United States, the IPEF, is also expected to be on the agenda.
If Korea decides to join, it is an official declaration that it will join the movement to contain China in the region, which is expected to serve as a diplomatic test bed for the new government.
Reporter Jo Soo-hyun reports.
[기자]
The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, or IPEF, is an Asia-Pacific economic consultative body initiative promoted by the US government.
The goal is to create an inclusive and flexible economic network centered on four themes: trade, supply chain, decarbonization and infrastructure, and tax evasion and corruption prevention.
The United States has proposed to participate in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the Philippines, as well as Korea and Japan, and the final coordination is currently underway.
It is expected that discussions will be held during President Biden’s visit to Korea from the 20th to 22nd.
[박진 / 외교부 장관 : 당연히 미국 측과도 이 문제에 대해서 조율하고 있고, 이번 정상회담에서도 이 문제가 논의될 것으로 생각합니다.]
It is highly likely that an official announcement regarding the IPEF will be made during President Biden’s visit to Japan on the 23rd and 24th, and it is expected that it will be a kind of launch declaration.
If Korea’s participation in the IPEF becomes official, the backlash from China, which has expressed a negative stance on the establishment of the IPEF, is expected to intensify.
On the day of the inauguration ceremony, Vice President Wang Chi-san, who prevented President Yun Seok-yeol, said, “The industrial supply chain between the two countries is an inseparable relationship.”
China’s state-run media, Global Times, warned that any attempt to undermine its own interests might damage the Korean and Chinese economy and stimulate China’s counter-response.
IPEF participation can serve as an opportunity to expand the ROK-U.S. alliance into various fields such as economic and security, but on the other hand, it can also lead to conflicts with China, which has high mutual economic dependence, so it is expected to be an important test bed for the new government.
This is Jo Soo-hyun from YTN.
YTN Jo Soo-hyun ([email protected])
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