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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (right) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during their meeting at the presidential office in Seoul Sunday, May 7, 2023
JAPANESE Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in Seoul today for the second personal summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in just two months.
The two leaders said they would discuss North Korea’s nuclear programme and “economic security” — often a euphemism for participation in the US-led effort to isolate China economically.
Following 12 years without any direct meetings, both governments have bowed to US pressure to develop closer links, with US ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel chairing 40 trilateral meetings with its key East Asian allies aimed at overcoming their mutual hostility.
Marking milestones in the histories of China and the United States, this week offers a chance to examine two very different visions of the international order, says CARLOS MARTINEZ
Friedrich Merz’s call for a new Plaza Accord ignores how Washington’s 1985 currency ambush destroyed Japan without fixing US deficits — China, a sovereign socialist state with 1.4 billion consumers, cannot be bullied the same way, writes CARLOS MARTINEZ