South Korea, Germany share goal of diversifying away from China, says German minister

Editorial Auge June 20, 2024

South Korea and Germany share the goal of diversifying away from China, expanding their raw material suppliers and reducing their dependence on critical products.

South Korea and Germany share the goal of diversifying away from China by expanding their raw material suppliers and reducing their dependence on critical products, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Thursday during a visit to the region.

Habeck was in South Korea on the first leg of a trip to Asia, where he is also expected to raise China's relations with Russia in Beijing and help manage the fallout from a growing dispute over European Union tariffs on Chinese electric cars.

"South Korea has a similar economic policy to Germany, it focuses on trade," Habeck said in Seoul. "It's a country that depends on markets being open and protectionist tendencies being reduced as much as possible."

Habeck said he also pressured South Korea to halt work on LNG carriers for Russia under contracts agreed before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"But there is a good chance that these ships will not be delivered," Habeck said. "That would be very much in the interests of all the countries that apply sanctions on Russia."

Habeck's trip came in the same week that Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea to agree a historic military assistance pact, with deepening defense cooperation between the countries raising alarms in Washington and Seoul.

"North Korea's militarization and cooperation with Russia with sanctions circumvention is a real concern for me and I think for the whole world," Habeck said, adding that his concern was shared by South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

Habeck is traveling with a delegation of small and medium-sized companies from different sectors and the day started with a business roundtable.

"Half of them already have a location in South Korea, while the other half want to explore the market, understand how the system works and what market opportunities there are," Habeck said.

Collaboration: Grupo Auge | Reuters (International).

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South Korea and Germany share the goal of diversifying away from China, expanding their raw material suppliers and reducing their dependence on critical products.

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