Foreign Minister Cho Dae-yul speaks during the opening speech at a banquet at the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity, an annual international peace forum, on Thursday in South Korea’s southern resort island of Jeju. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s top diplomat said the country is actively positioning itself as a cooperation hub in various networks, highlighting its vision as a „global core state”.
The vision promoted by current President Yoon Suk-yeol’s government aims for South Korea to serve as a responsible country that upholds and promotes freedom, human rights and the rule of law.
„Under the vision of 'global core state’, the government participates in multilateral and multi-layered networks such as South Korea-US-Japan, South Korea-China-Japan, G7 and NATO to contribute to regional cooperation networks,” Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said Thursday. He said during the opening remarks at the banquet at the annual International Peace Forum, the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity, in South Korea’s southern resort island of Jeju that day.
Reflecting on his participation in the forum a decade ago, Cho noted significant changes in the past 10 years, making it challenging to pursue pragmatic foreign policies.
„As the divide between liberal and authoritarian worldviews deepens, it is almost impossible to pursue practical diplomacy away from values,” Cho said.
Some 250 special guests from home and abroad attended the banquet, including former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, APEC Secretariat Executive Director Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria and Robert Gallucci, the US’s chief negotiator with North Korea during the 1994 nuclear deal. Crisis. (Yonhap)