By Jun Ji-hye
President Moon Jae-in is expected to debut on the global political stage at the G20 summit in July, where he is expected to meet with the leaders of key countries, including the United States.
Foreign ministry officials expect the G20 summit, which will be held in Germany, to bring U.S. President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping together, all of whom are leaders of countries that have bilateral challenging issues with South Korea.
“President Moon will need to meet with various heads of state just two months after his inauguration,” a ministry official said, asking not to be named.
To make a successful debut on the global diplomatic stage, Moon is tasked with organizing positions regarding key issues at the earliest possible date, including the controversial deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery, to avoid the nation’s further diplomatic isolation.
The nation has suffered from the fears of so-called “Korea passing,” the term coined to describe Seoul’s isolation from the international community, while going through more than 150 days of an unprecedented leadership vacuum since former President Park Geun-hye was removed from office for the massive corruption scandal.
Throughout his campaign, Moon has said the THAAD issue should be discussed again by the new government, criticizing the Park government’s rush to agree with the U.S. on the installation. Moon’s position has been apparently gaining support from the public following Trump’s abrupt calls on Seoul to pay $1 billion for the deployment.
The THAAD issue is also closely related to China as the country has been strongly opposed to the installation, claiming the system seriously harms its national interests.
Moon is expected to try to mend ties with China and persuade the country to drop its economic sanctions against Seoul in retaliation for the installation.
“I will enter into earnest negotiations with the U.S. and China to resolve the THAAD issues,” Moon said during his inaugural address, Wednesday.
Moon also faces complicated issues involving Japan such as a disputed bilateral deal on “comfort women.”
Foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan reached a verbal agreement in December 2015 to resolve the issue of Tokyo’s wartime sexual slavery, but Moon has expressed his will to renegotiate with Japan. The issue is mentioned as one of the hot potatoes for the new government as it is doubtful whether Prime Minister Abe will accept Moon’s request for the renegotiation.
Moon has also expressed a negative view on the Seoul-Tokyo deal on sharing military information, signed in November.