Japan opposes Korea's G7 participation

President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe / Korea Times file

By Kang Seung-woo

Japan has stepped up its efforts to prevent Korea from joining the G7 with Tokyo lobbying the United States to drop Seoul from its expansion scenario for the group of advanced economies.

Diplomatic experts say its opposition was an expected response, while advising the Korean government to stay unresponsive to the neighboring country's "politically calculated" move.

According to Japan's Kyodo News, Sunday, a high-ranking Japanese government official told the U.S. that it would oppose the participation of Korea in the plan to expand the summit of the seven advanced economies, proposed by U.S. President Trump in May to form an anti-China coalition.

While announcing the decision to postpone the G7 summit scheduled in June to September, Trump said, May 30, that he would like to invite Korea, Australia, India and Russia.

During a phone conversation with President Moon Jae-in two days later, the American president invited Korea to the summit, an offer "willingly" accepted by Moon. Trump made it clear that his plan was not a one-time invitation of those countries but he hoped to expand the G7 to G11 or G12.

But the Japanese officials called for maintaining the current framework, saying Korea's diplomatic attitude toward China and North Korea is different from that of G7, the report noted.

In response, the U.S. side said that Trump will make a final decision, according to the report.

Since the expansion idea came to light late last month, the Japanese government has refrained from publicly opposing the participation of Korea, which is at odds with Japan over historical and other issues ― unlike its opposition to Russia, with which it has a territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands.

"Japan's objection has been an easy guess amid ongoing historical issue-caused diplomatic disputes. Korea's participation could weaken Japan's presence as the lone Asian member within the organization," said Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University. Along with Japan, the G7 is comprised of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the U.S.

"The Korean government may also have expected such a response from Japan to an extent," he added.

The Kyodo News report also analyzed that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may want to maintain diplomatic superiority over Korea as the only Asian member of the G7.

According to a controversial memoir written by former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton, Abe persuaded Trump not to formally declare an end to the Korean War, ahead of the North Korea-U.S. summit in Singapore in June 2018, raising speculation that he may once again lobby against Korea's G7 participation.

However, Park said it would not be easy for Abe to do so.

"Trump is seeking to expand the G7 in order to use the summit as a platform to promote his anti-China agenda. In that respect, Abe knows Trump's intention and he may feel uncomfortable with standing against the U.S. president's plan to invite Korea," he said.

The professor also said the timing of the report may have political purposes domestically given that public support for the Abe administration is slumping due to a series of political scandals and his slow handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Last month, the approval rating for Abe's Cabinet slipped to its lowest in two years.

"Currently, Abe is faced with a political crisis, so he may attempt to trigger a diplomatic conflict with Korea in order to rally his popularity. Japan's Korea-bashing has worked out when he was in trouble. In this regard, the Korean government needs to stay away from it, otherwise, we may help him bounce back," Park said.

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