Yoon says S. Korea's participation in IPEF is only natural

All News 11:43 May 23, 2022

SEOUL, May 23 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol said Monday that the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) proposed by the United States aims to set the rules for economics and trade in the region, making it only natural for South Korea to join.

Yoon made the remark to reporters hours before U.S. President Joe Biden was set to launch the initiative from Japan.

"The IPEF is not a trade negotiation that has certain contents like an FTA," he said as he arrived for work at the presidential office. "This is a process of setting wide-ranging rules for economics and trade in the Indo-Pacific region, so obviously we have to take part in it."

"If we exclude ourselves from the rule-setting process, it will cause a great deal of harm to the national interest," he added.

The IPEF has been billed as a regional framework that will ensure supply chain resilience, set the rules of the digital economy and promote clean energy, among other things.

The initiative is seen an attempt to exclude China from global supply chains, leading to concern South Korea's decision to join it could upset Beijing.