Japan conveys objection to Trump's plan to add S Korea to G-7

The next Summit could be a farewell party for Trump (and Moon as well if still invited).

The Abe Cabinet is spot on. There is no need for South Korea and Russia to be involved in the G7. They should not have equal status as Japan, since their economies are much smaller, and they are too willing to engage in relations with North Korea.

I hope Trump drops this thought bubble.

Abe, jealous or what!

Rock the boat! Don't tip the boat over! Remember that song?

They should not have equal status as Japan, since their economies are much smaller

You could say the same with Canada

They should not have equal status as Japan, since their economies are much smaller

Using that logic, China should have been a member a long time ago. As it stands now, China would also qualify for G2!

with the expanded group to be called either the "G-11" or "G-12,"

Hey, might as well go ahead and add a few more countries and call it the "G-20"...

...oh, wait a minute....

I agree and stand with Japan and Abe on this one. There is no need for either SK or Russia to be included.

Realistically, do these groupings and meetings have any meaning anymore?

W.B. Why bother?

Gary

I think the reasoning behind Japan's objection is quite weak, and only reveals their desperation to hold on to their status.

As mentioned in the article, the potential inclusion of other countries into G7 is to reflect current global situation to tackle global challenges. The size of economy itself does not indicate a nation's ability on tackling global challenges - e.g. Japan demonstrated poor infrastructure and slow response to the pandemic, as opposed to Australia and Korea.

Korea may have a different stance to Japan regarding North Korea and China, but shouldn't all relevant stakeholders/opinions be involved to resolve global issues?

It's disappointing that the Japanese government is putting their pride and status before global progression.

Neither Russia nor South Korea should be invited into the G7. Another one of Trump's stupid ideas. Fortuntely he'll be gone very soon.

As far as changing any international organizations, obviously the UN Permanent Security Council should be the first to reflect todays world of 2020....and not 1945.

Does anyone else think the concept of G7 and G20 is an outdated concept that only promotes exclusivity?

If Trump wanted to reflect current global situation then change the name and members to promote inclusion and diversity!

So Russia was thrown out because of Crimea, SK should be in because of Takeshima? Just comparing. As long as SK does not accept ICJ decision on conflicts it causes with other members of the group, there shouldn't be any talks about becoming a member. Also I have doubts SK would take economic side with current G7 members when it comes to ties with NK and China. I would call this another "Trump" trying to pave the way for future investment of his companies after his term as president. Unfortunately my argument does not work politically well when considering Trumps' affection for NK and other likely countries.

who cares ?

@ah so

You could say the same with Canada

Um, no. Canada's economy is the world's No. 10. However, three above it are grouped under the single Eurozone. China is No. 2 but out because it's communist. Canada clearly belongs in the "G-7."

Japan's position and reasoning (and support from its people) is incredibly banal and inconsequential. Hard to believe Japan and its people were once the 2nd largest economy with this small nation mindset and an envy of most other nations. Truly sad.

China is No. 2 but out because it's communist. 

Be careful. Someone will pop up in a minute and claim: "China isn't Communist."

I agree that Communist China has no place in the Group of worlds major economies. In fact, all other economies should agree in principle to scale back ALL trade with China over the next 10 years - or risk being removed from the Group.

In fact, all other economies should agree in principle to scale back ALL trade with China over the next 10 years - or risk being removed from the Group.

Ganbare cobber!

The message was conveyed by a high-level Japanese government official immediately after Trump on May 30

This just came out in news today, do immediate means 28 days later?

Do = so. Edit button, please.

Another of Trumps daft, politically inept twitter policy ideas. Sadly his tenure has done the USA no favours globally or nationally.

Politically the opposition makes sense. However, economically there is a need for reconsideration.

All nations are "connected" economically whether one likes that or not. And as such all economies "affect" and "effect" each other. That is why for Iran and N Korea and other "rogue" nations, economic sanctions are used in hopes that such actions will work. In essence a "tariff" does the same.

So to have access to and an ability to discuss and hope fully communicate, coordinate and get cooperation from those wanted and not wanted, liked and disliked in an open, organized and safe manner makes sense. In this case, it was something Japan had to do in order to send a "message" to SK, that has more than a limited social and economic ties and influence upon each other.

OssanAmericaToday 05:19 pm JST

As far as changing any international organizations, obviously the UN Permanent Security Council should be the first to reflect todays world of 2020....and not 1945

I would rather just get rid of the security council. Why should one out of give nations (P5) be able to veto the world's decisions in the general assembly? No real way to override a veto either.

Sounds like Trump wants to get some buildings in Russia and SK with his name on them, just like Israel. Australia and Canada maybe, but Russia never deserves to be in the G-7 again (as long as Putin is in power and not until Crimea is returned to Ukraine).

The Japanese need to grow up!

The Three Stooges!

Considering Russia's oil, mineral and precious metal reserves and military strength, it is stupid in my opinion to exclude it. There was a similar situation after WWII and the result was cold war. Talking is much better than stubbing each other quietly in the dark...

Thankfully, Trump doesn't run the G-7. He doesn't run anything, he manipulates things. South Korea should build its economy to be in the top 7 before being asked to join. The idea of the G-7 holding a farewell party/s is great, just don't invite the dearly departed.

The Japanese obsession against Koreans is really damn dumb and contradictory to me. Meanwhile, I don't like Korean obsession against Japanese, either. I will focus only the Japanese, in this case.

The Chinese with the help of CCP, who bullied Japan all the times and forced LDP cronies becoming their whores, control a large stake of Japanese economy and all important growth-inducing overseas assets for Japan's world net creditor status. The Chinese and Taiwanese businesspeople now owned most of the Ginza and all of Kabukicho. Sharp is an ethnic Chinese company, or SoftBank's ARM sold the majority stake of Chinese JV for the state-owned Chinese companies. Yet, none of Japanese right wingers bats a voice, while they laser-focused on Zainichi Koreans who just operate some panchinko parlors or own some Japanese assets. Where the hell are Nippon Kaigi when the Chinese are now buy distressed ryokans across Japan? LINE is a Korean company, yet I haven't seen any right-wing protest against them as well.

https://japan-forward.com/chinas-wealthy-out-to-buy-japanese-ryokans-that-suffered-losses-during-pandemic/

G7 was created for the Western-aligned democracies, so I don't see anything wrong of having South Korea in it. We need all the helps against Chinese hegemony at the moment. At the same time, I highly doubt that most of the G7 members, except the US, have the strength and the will to stand against Beijing. The Chinese held a hold on France, Germany and UK through keep these nations' performing assets in China as hostages. Chinese billionaires and multi-millionaires have completely controlled most of Canadian real estate industry, and have a strong political presence here. Italy's economy is so crappy that it now begs China to invest into Italy through OBOR, while Italian luxury brands are addicted to Chinese consumers. The EU is also a mess as well with China uses money to shake-off the political systems of every member, like Serbia's leadership is pretty much in Chinese pocket. In case of Japan, I already said everything happened above.

The US needs all the necessary helps that it can get. China is an uncommon foe, so Russia and South Korea can play an important role if President Trump sees fit. Especially Russia, Putin is very angry that Xi allows Covid into Russian borders. Russia has never been a friend to China, so the US can exploit that weakness against China.

Japan has unchangeable fate, that is the fact. "G7 was created for the Western-aligned democracies", but Japan isn't the west, never will be.

@juminrhee yeah, I hear what you’re saying about the security council. Or the very least, allow a 2/3 majority to override whatever said veto. So that way if 10 of the 15 members want to go ahead with an international action like the security council votes on, they would be able to do it, without simply one or two nations getting in the way.

@divinda yeah, I wonder if Trump was at all thinking about the G 20 when making this proposal. I mean the one thing I will give them, is the fact that international bodies should change representation, if there’s been enough of a significant change in the balance of power between nations. I mean that would make sense anyways.

Be careful. Someone will pop up in a minute and claim: "China isn't Communist."

China used to be communist. I find it now checking all the important boxes that define a nascent fascists state. So, it's Fascist China for me.

@Fighto!

They should not have equal status as Japan, since their economies are much smaller

So you are suggesting that Canada, Germany, France, UK, and Italy be kicked out as well?

@saitamaliving

So Russia was thrown out because of Crimea, SK should be in because of Takeshima? 

By same token Japan should be thrown out because it's the country with most number of territorial disputes.

I see no harm in adding a few more countries based on GDP. Talking with people face to face is has the potential for a good outcome. Ostracizing people only creates resentment.

Be careful. Someone will pop up in a minute and claim: "China isn't Communist."

There's a reason for that; China's not communist.

I'm still not sure why people would want to push the CCP lies on this one. It's like pushing that the DPRK (North Korea) is Democratic (DPRK).

South Korea to add G-7 with that government of Moon Jae-In it's kind of Trump's joke. Trump is a joker. anyway.

On so many issues, it can be stated that Donald Trump is not wrong, but the motivation behind why he is not wrong is itself wrong or flawed. He's not wrong to state that the G-7 is outdated. The first meeting, which was originally the G-6 (minus Canada), took place in France in November 1975. Mao Zedong was still living and both China and India were largely poverty-stricken agrarian societies that were very minor players in the production of steel, automobiles, electronics, etc. And countries like South Korea and Spain weren't just non-democratic at the time (neither would experience full democratization until the 1980s), they were also economically insignificant.

So in the aftermath of the first oil shock in 1973, it made sense for the U.S., Japan, and the big 4 European democracies to coordinate and strategize about how to recover from the crisis. That's why the first G-6 meeting was convened. By the way, Canada joined in 1976 to make it the G-7 because the U.S. didn't want to feel outnumbered as the only North American representative. And eventually the G-7 became an annual thing rather than just a short-term response to the oil shocks and other economic crises of the 1970s.

Here we are 45 years after the first meeting. China and India are the world's two biggest steel producers. Automobile production in China dwarfs that of any other nation. So it's not wrong to call the G-7 outdated. The creation of the G-20 was a logical response to the G-7's growing outdatedness. But Trump dislikes the G-7 because he dislikes the very idea of coordination and cooperation of any kind and just wants to (verbally) fight everybody all the time. That's not really a good reason to dislike the G-7.

Trump going after the all important Korean-American voters.

"Trump going after the all important Korean-American voters."

Don't know if you're being sarcastic or sincere, but that could very well be a part of his motivation. The U.S. is now home to the world's largest Korean diaspora population at an estimated 2.5 million, bigger even than the Korean diaspora population in China. And I'm guessing the majority of those who are of voting age are either native-born or naturalised U.S. citizens. Further evidence of potential complications in the U.S.-Japan relationship.

June 9, 2018

We, the Leaders of the G7, have come together in Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada on June 8–9, 2018, guided by our shared values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and our commitment to promote a rules-based international order. As advanced economies and leading democracies, we share a fundamental commitment to investing in our citizens and meeting their needs and to responding to global challenges.

Well, obviously Korea and Russia do not suit this shared values.

Very simple reason for refusing them to include to G7.

guided by our shared values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and our commitment to promote a rules-based international order

I can imagine the university exam question - "Point out the flaws in the above statement."

Invite China too.

Great photo. trump loos constipated, Mr. Korea looks bewildered, Abe -san , just a wry smile.

Very cool indeed

I am generally against this idea of grouping because it doesn't make much sense and it is war prone. I'd rather re-range UN in a way that works.

guided by our shared values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and our commitment to promote a rules-based international order

Not a whole lot of reasons to keep Japan in the G-7 based on that description. Or even the US for that matter

CPTPP is far more meaningful without USA China Russia

Let South Korea in and learn how to avoid risks by having closer relationships with the G7.

At first I agreed with Japan's stance against S.Korea in the G7 but when I thought about it, it could actually benefit Japan. Look, S.Korean politics moves where the money is. If S.Korea is included in the powerful G7 they will further dive into globalization and thus further divide North and South Korea. If they can further divide the peninsula it will be a huge benefit to Japan. I say Japan should be more keen to include S.Korea in global affairs to further pull them closer. P.S. keep your friends close but your enemies closer ;)

Don't know if you're being sarcastic or sincere, but that could very well be a part of his motivation.

Both.

There are about 2x more Korean-Americans (1.4M) than Japanese Americans (770K) living in the USA.

Facts about S. Korea

It's too close to China.

Too close to North Korea.

They love Kim and want better relations no matter how aggressive they act.

They broke an intelligence agreement with Japan which the U.S. also depends on for faster response and cooperation.

Went back on the 1965 aggrement as Final.

Broke the 2015 comfort woman deal as Final.

Trying to change the name of Japan Sea.

Building comfort women statues to bash Japan and as a bargaining chip in debates with Tokyo.

Any power S. Korea gains they will use fully against Japan. Fact

Or, just get rid of the G7 photo op meeting all together. What has the G7 ever done? Fix world hunger? Help the environment? Cured diseases?

Russia absolutely belongs in the G7. It is incredibly arrogant and counterproductive to exclude the largest country on earth and second largest nuclear power from the meeting. SK I am not so sure.

As many commentators have failed to realise, this isn't just about economic size, otherwise both India and China would be in the club whilst Italy and Canada wouldn't.

It's about how democratic and developed economically its members are.

At the end of the day, it's just a fancy club where people talk a lot but don't do much...

Seems like it would make sense to include China, India, and Brazil, since all of them have economies larger than Canada's. It would then be the G 10. Include the top eleven economies by GDP, and include South Korea as well. Makes sense to me. The trouble with Russia, #12 by GDP in some polls, is that their economy is primarily based on oil, and oil consumption needs to be reduced.

I don't think it's normal to include South Korea, which is trying to be pro-China and pro-North, when the name of the game is siege of China.　You want a spy?

Australia and New Zealand have been categorized as some of the most developped democratic countries for a long time; they are also not in the European Union. Why not include them if you want to expand the group in the East?

As the saying goes, “too many captains will steer the ship up a mountain”, we won’t be able to declare anything against China if we have Korea inside.

"The Japanese obsession against Koreans is really damn dumb and contradictory to me"

Hmmm, seems to me it is the South Koreans nurturing the grudge for domestic political purposes.  South Korean politicians and comfort woman support groups generate a lot of money for themselves (a lot of which goes directly into their pockets and not to the groups they claim to represent) by nursing that grudge.  Their position is unhealthy to say the least.   I also sometimes think that were Japan and China to come into conflict the South Koreans would side with China against both Japan and the US.

Xeno ManJune 28  08:21 pm JST

The Japanese obsession against Koreans is really damn dumb and contradictory to me.

Japanese are not obsessed against South Korea. Seem the entire world knows that it is South Korea that is obsessed against Japan but you. The ROK was founded by a Korean government in exile during WWII whose very raison d'etre was to be anti-Japanese. And this has not changed. South Korea continues to teach a whitewashed version of history in their schools that denies Korean participation in WWII against the allies, and uses anti-Japan sentiment as a diplomatic and political tool.

"South Korea continues to teach a whitewashed version of history in their schools that denies Korean participation in WWII against the allies, and uses anti-Japan sentiment as a diplomatic and political tool."

Japan is as guilty as South Korea of this sin.  Ditto China.  Mao ran and hid during the bulk of WWII with his forces contributing almost nothing to the effort to expel Japanese forces from China.   Instead they hid while arming up with Soviet weapons.  Only after the war was over and Chiang Kai-shek's forces were exhausted from decades of fighting Mao and the Japanese did Mao sweep out of the north and conquer China.  I have family who suffered under Mao so it's a little personal.  But likewise I have family who fought Japan during WWII in the jungles of Guadalcanal and who was later spared even worse when the invasion of Japan he was to be part of became a postwar occupation instead thanks to a the Manhattan Project on which my mother was a part of.  Japan does not teach that war honestly.  I am waiting for a Japanese Prime Minister to visit the USS Arizona Memorial and then visit the USS Missouri, which is just across Pearl Harbor.  Come to those places, say a prayer for the Allied soldiers who died fighting Tojo and the IJA he led (not the Japanese people who were and remain kind and gentle) during a perfectly horrible war.  Also tell the story of the anti-war opposition that existed in the Diet during WWII.  Tell the whole story.  Follow the lead of the Germans who visit the scenes of their own WWII horrors and fully acknowledge them.  The Germans are now well trusted and even revered as examples of probity and democratic governance.  They don't whitewash their history and are a better people for it.  Btw, the US could learn a lesson in humility from the Germans, not for WWII but for subsequent abuses it has committed.

It's not that he's trying to pinpoint South Korea, but "there's no need to break the G7 framework. Just saying.

2.Not only Japan, the other six countries (including the US) agree.

This seems to look like "Japan is blocking South Korea's entry into the G7" to Koreans, and it is causing an uproar all over the world.

I'm tired of being involved in that stuff and I really think we should cut off diplomatic relations.

The G7 is a forum for discussing the status of advanced nations, and that's why it requires compliance with international law as a condition of membership.

Russia and South Korea both violate international law without a second thought, so it's only natural that they should not be allowed to join the G7.

At least not during the Moon Jae-in administration, it is impossible to join.

Awww.... Poor Abe! If Trump puts in SK, Abe can't have him all to himself! (in Asia). He'll be hopping up and down on all fours, nipping at Trump's heels, and Moon will be sitting in the room wondering what's going on, and Abe will feel like the fool he is around the man he worships.