South Korea's Moon heads for G7 summit overshadowed by China

FILE PHOTO: South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Washington, U.S., May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger/File PhotoSEOUL: South Korean President Moon Jae-in was set to depart Friday for the Group of Seven summit in Britain where talk of countering China could overshadow Seoul's efforts to be seen as a bigger player on issues such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under Moon, South Korea has committed to zero emissions by 2050 and unveiled a"Green New Deal" to harness investment in green technology as a way to recover from the pandemic and vowed to end funding coal plants around the region.However, the summit is also expected to include discussions on free trade and countering Beijing's growing influence.

The presidential official did not mention China, but said that Moon would take part in discussions on"the need to reinforce the global supply chain and free trade". The subtle shift to stronger public statements from Seoul appears due to several factors, including an increasing wariness of Beijing among South Koreans, and Biden's less bombastic approach than his predecessor Donald Trump, said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a Korea expert at King's College London.

the Korean peninsula and its relations with neighbours such as China. 'With an election less than a year away, the onus is on the ruling party to demonstrate to voters that it can take a sufficiently tough stance against China,' he said.

The economic beating South Korea took during Moon's first year in office ended up hardening his party's views on China to a certain extent, and broader anti-China sentiment in South Korea has since soared, said Anthony Rinna, a senior editor with Sino-NK, a group that researches

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