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President Yoon Suk-yeol (left) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during their pull-aside meeting in New York on Sept. 21. (Yonhap)

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol only managed to pull off a “pull-aside” meeting with the Japanese prime minister, along with a 48-second encounter with the US president, during his first trip to North America, prompting criticism for causing a veritable diplomatic catastrophe.

Although the South Korean presidential office emphasized that South Korea and Japan agreed to improve their ties by resolving the forced labor issue during their pull-aside meeting, and that concerns regarding the Inflation Reduction Act were expressed during the meeting between the leaders of South Korea and the US, observers say that Yoon merely reconfirmed positions in principle without making visible progress.

According to the South Korean presidential office, Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a pull-aside meeting in New York on Wednesday, during which they established their shared view on the need for South Korea and Japan to improve their relations and respond to North Korea’s nuclear program together and agreed to continue to communicate with each other.

The last summit between South Korea and Japan took place two years and nine months ago, when then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in met then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in December 2019. The two leaders at the time reportedly failed to make progress on the issue of compensation for victims of forced labor, a key issue between South Korea and Japan.

Whether a meeting between the two countries would even take place remained unclear until the last minute, as Japan pushed back against the South Korean presidential office’s premature announcement of a potential South Korea-Japan summit. In the end, Yoon personally went to the building where Kishida was participating in another diplomatic engagement in order to hold a 30-minute pull-aside meeting with him.

Sidestepping typical procedure, the South Korean media was not alerted about the two leaders’ meeting beforehand, which was according to the Japanese government’s request, explained the South Korean presidential office. Japanese media described the meeting as an unofficial “discussion.”

The South Korea-US summit between Yoon and US President Joe Biden ultimately fell through.

Yoon even made a spontaneous decision to attend the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment Conference, hosted by Biden, in order to make time for a meeting with the US leader, but he only managed to chat with Biden for 48 seconds.

The South Korean presidential office revealed that Yoon and Biden made agreements regarding the US’ Inflation Reduction Act, cooperation for financial stabilization, and extended deterrence during their three meetings that happened on three different days: at a reception in London on Sunday, at a reception hosted by Biden Wednesday night, in addition to the 48-second chat.

The office also stated, “Yoon requested close cooperation [with Biden] so that concerns in South Korea regarding the Inflation Reduction Act would be resolved, and Biden answered that he was aware of our concerns and that serious discussions should continue between South Korea and the US,” adding that close cooperation for financial stabilization through the activation of liquidity supply mechanisms was agreed upon. Choi Sang-mok, the senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, said in a briefing, “Currency swaps are included as part of liquidity supply mechanisms.”

Regarding Yoon’s so-called “diplomatic failure” which only resulted in short encounters, a high-ranking official at the South Korean presidential office stressed that “mutual understanding that an agreement should be drawn forth even through conversations was achieved.” However, there is a world of difference between a 48-second encounter and a full-on summit where leaders sit face to face with an agenda.

Furthermore, reports about Yoon’s mention of “those jackasses in the legislature” to his aides while exiting the event venue after his encounter with Biden captured on video magnified the controversy surrounding Yoon’s diplomatic catastrophe, raising criticism against Yoon’s “tendency to make risky statements.”

“What an international disgrace, devoid of the purpose nor outcome of summit diplomacy — responsibility should be taken for the diplomatic catastrophe,” Democratic Party floor leader Park Hong-keun said, adding, “The complete reshuffling of the diplomacy line seems inevitable.”

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

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