서울국제포럼 The Seoul Forum for International Affairs(SFIA)

The Korea Times  |  송경진 FN 글로벌이슈센터장, 前 세계경제연구원 원장

Foreign policy becomes domestic policy only when it is presented with the right background, direction and information. Before and after the G7 Leaders' Summit on June 11-13 in Cornwall, the U.K., the whole of Korea was mired in excitement and ire simultaneously out of confusion and misleading information from the government and supposed experts.

When this year's G7 host, the United Kingdom, announced the list of invited guests to the Cornwall G7 summit in January ― Korea, Australia, India and South Africa ― the Korean government immediately published it and offered an interpretation that the G7's invitation two years in a row was a G7 recognition of Korea's enhanced stature in the world, coming close to that of the world's richest countries which make up the G7. The same rhetoric was reinforced by the President in Cabinet meetings as the G7 summit was approaching.

There is no doubt that it is a good thing to be invited to an important multilateral forum like the G7 where global issues are discussed. But no invitation is extended at random without an agenda or a purpose. The agenda is a determining factor in the host's decision on guest countries. Yet one critical element consistently missing in the Korean government's rhetoric was the G7's rationale behind the invitation to Korea and the expected contribution of Korea at the forthcoming G7 summit.

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기사 원문 출처: https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2021/06/791_311268.html