Moon warns against protectionism, calls for WTO reform

President Moon Jae-in, left, is welcomed by Argentina's President Mauricio Macri at Costa Salguero in Buenos Aires during the G20 Leaders' Summit, Dec. 1. AFP-Yonhap

Moon arrives in NZ for a three-day state visit

By Kim Yoo-chul

BUENOS AIRES -- President Moon Jae-in called for multilateral dialogue to reform the World Trade Organization (WTO) and tackle protectionism at a special session of the G20 meeting, Saturday.

“While the global economy is showing signs of improvement, the principle of free trade is increasingly being threatened by escalating trade tensions and growing protectionism. Now is the time to step up dialogue to establish rules-based trade and reform the WTO,” Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon quoted Moon as saying.

Moon attended the special session to discuss pending issues with the G20 leaders behind closed doors. He earlier said this year's G20 summit was an opportunity to build a positive trade agenda and to de-escalate trade tensions between advanced economies.

A fair multilateral trading system is essential in order to ensure sustained growth in global trade and create new market access and opportunities for export-driven economies, Moon said.

“Multilateralism is also the power to create lasting peace by resolving various types of international conflicts. Moon told the leaders that the Korean Peninsula is at a major crossroads in terms of bringing about permanent peace between the two Koreas,” the outgoing Kim said.

World leaders gather for a group photo at the start of the G20 Leaders'Summit at the Costa Salguero Center in Buenos Aires, Dec. 1. Bottom row from left are Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron, U.S. President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Argentina's President Mauricio Macri and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Members of the middle and top row include European Council's President Donald Tusk, the Netherlands' Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. AP-Yonhap

At the briefing, Kim said this year's G20 summit was a reminder of how much global politics has shifted in recent years, and how ill-fitting a wave of protectionist nationalism was to a body with the ostensible core goal of making the world economy run better.

Issues such as climate change were also touched upon by the leaders at the meeting. South Korea plans to cut carbon emissions by 37 percent by 2030 in accordance with the Paris Climate accord. The country is putting more emphasis on boosting renewable energy business projects.

Within the G20, as the President stressed, South Korea is seeing rising trade tensions with China and Japan, two of the country's key trading partners in terms of annual trade volume.

“Trade tensions will hinder investment and slow the pace of economic recovery. Such worries were actively discussed during the G20 session,” Minister Kim told reporters.

Moon's commitments to fixing world trade rules and fighting climate change contradict the goals sought by the United States as President Trump used this year's G20 summit to highlight his own trade agenda and deals.

“At the session, Moon told participants that the South Korean government will try hard to drive further his people-oriented economy initiative under which all market participants are guaranteed fair competition,” Kim said in the briefing.

“Moon said South Korea wants to revive the country's economic dynamism by actively pursuing income-led growth policy on the basis that growth in household income can boost consumption, which the President believes is the driving force for local growth,” Kim said.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, an emerging industrial wave, offers greater potential to transform and realign businesses in South Korea, according to Moon. He said South Korea is lowering the hurdles for startup firms and allowing them to take advantage of special tax deductions and exemptions.

After holding summits with the Rutte and Macri in the Argentine capital, Moon arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday evening (KST) for a three-day state-visit.

Cheong Wa Dae said it hopes the visit will help strengthen bilateral ties and continue to foster mutual benefits for the two countries.

There, Moon plans to tour the Auckland War Memorial Museum and engage with the Korean community there.