Germany also opposes G7 expansion

Following Japan, Germany has also announced a negative stance against U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to expand the Group of Seven (G7). This has put a brake on the South Korean government’s plan to join the G7-plus as an official member.

Some are criticizing that the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae’s rushed announcement of becoming an official member of the new international system of G11 or G12 has rather weakened the country’s position despite the complexity of conflicting interests among the G7 countries over the issue of G7 expansion without China due to the ever-heightened tension between the U.S. and China.

“There is no need for a G11 or G12. The G7 and G20 are two sensibly coordinated formats,” German Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas said in an interview with Rheinische Post, a German daily newspaper, on Sunday (local time). Japan, one of the G7 countries, has publicly revealed its stance against the G7 expansion earlier.

The South Korean diplomatic authorities believe that most of the G7 countries, except the U.S. led by President Trump, have a negative attitude toward the group’s expansion despite the lack of their public announcements. It is also deemed that President Trump’s proposal to expand the group was put forward either for the upcoming U.S. presidential election or on impulse to keep China in check. The G7 countries are opposing the expansion because of their cooperative economic relations with China or repulsion to South Korea and/or Russia.


Gi-Jae Han record@donga.com · Youn-Jong Kim zozo@donga.com