Japan 'shameless' to object Trump's idea of adding South Korea to G7: Blue House

On the 29th, South Korean Government expressed a strong displeasure to the Japanese government, which revealed a negative attitude toward Korea's participation of the seven major (G7) summit. A senior official at the Blue House said, "It is a very unconscionable act for the Japanese government to interfere with the event that President Moon Jae-in has announced that he will be attended by a formal invitation.".

Earlier, Japanese government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, at the regular morning press conference, said, "It is very important to maintain the G7 framework itself." It was a sign of opposition to the expansion of the G7 summit, including Korea. He did not answer the question of whether or not Japanese government's attitude was passed on to the United States. The Kyodo News reported on the previous day that the Japanese government had told the US government that it should maintain the current G7 framework, saying that “the attitude of Korea toward North Korea or China is different from that of the G7”.

The Blue House's reaction was because it determined that it was necessary to brake the behavior the Japanese government had shown. A senior official said, “One year ago, the Japanese government hindered the development of the Korean economy through measures to restrict exports in the fields of materials, parts and equipment, and the Bolton memoirs also showed that Japan had hindered peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

The Blue House is also complaining about Japan's excuses of Covid 19 and refusing to negotiate bilateral work on export restrictions. In addition, it seems that the Japanese government's behavior of distorting the past history while ignoring the facts of forced labor promised during the UNESCO World Heritage List of Hashima (Gunhamdo) coal mines seemed to have an impact.

The Japanese government is also keenly aware that Mr. Yu Myung-hee, the head of the Trade and Industry Headquarters, is running as a candidate for the Secretary-General of the World Trade Organization.