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The South Korean president met with leaders from France, Germany, India and extra on the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa
President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea (second from left) speaks on the third session of the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Nov. 23, 2025. (pool photograph)
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung labored by way of a breathless three-day schedule of summits with the leaders of France and Germany and pull-aside conferences with the leaders of India and Brazil through the Group of 20 summit.
In a written briefing on Sunday, the presidential workplace defined that Lee had held pull-aside conferences earlier that day with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which got here on the heels of summits a day earlier with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. This means that he took trip from his official G20 occasion schedule for one-on-one conferences with heads of state.
The assembly with Modi reportedly passed off at India’s request. At Lee’s subsequent assembly with Lula, the 2 leaders every requested that the opposite go to their respective nation.
Lee prolonged an invite to Macron to go to South Korea subsequent yr, which marks the a hundred and fortieth anniversary of the institution of diplomatic relations between South Korea and France.
Through the first South Korea-France summit to happen since his inauguration, Lee expressed hope that the 2 sides might “elevate bilateral ties to a strategic partnership and bolster cooperation throughout varied fields, together with tradition, the financial system, safety and cutting-edge applied sciences,” in response to the presidential workplace.
Macron responded enthusiastically to the invitation, calling the anniversary an vital event for a go to whereas noting the assorted agendas that the 2 international locations have to debate. The French president expressed optimism concerning the two sides persevering with to cooperate in various fields equivalent to safety, quantum expertise, synthetic intelligence, area, nuclear energy era and renewable vitality.
Within the South Korea-Germany summit that adopted, Merz expressed that Germany took a “excessive stage of curiosity” within the scenario on the Korean Peninsula and surrounding areas, and expressed curiosity about North Korea, additionally asking questions concerning South Korea’s stance on China, as Germany is “at present grappling” with its China technique.
Germany scrapped its pleasant method to China in 2023 and has since outlined China as a “systemic rival.”
“We’ve got a lot to be taught from Germany, because it has set many precedents because it paved its personal path. Please inform us the way you overcame division to efficiently welcome reunification; we’d be extremely grateful to listen to about any secret suggestions,” Lee mentioned, sidestepping the query about China.
By Um Ji-won, workers reporter
Please direct questions or feedback to [english@hani.co.kr]
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