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President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea and first lady Kim Keon-hee prepare to board the presidential jet back to Korea at Hiroshima Airport on May 21 after finishing up all their scheduled events during the G7 summit there. (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk-yeol issued a hard-line message to North Korea and Russia while attending the Group of Seven summit held in Hiroshima, Japan, as an observer, and once again demonstrated his intention to engage in a brand of “values diplomacy” that stays close to the US.

In particular, the South Korean president called out North Korea and Russia in an expanded meeting on the international rule of law and international security on Sunday, the final day of the G7 meeting.

“Freedom and peace in the international community that are not grounded in law are temporary, vulnerable and not sustainable,” Yoon said. “The only path to protecting freedom and securing peace in the international community is making countries, the members of that community, abide by international law and international norms and act in accordance with such norms.”

Regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said, “People are being killed through military force, and the freedom and prosperity of the Ukrainian people is being seriously violated.”

“We cannot allow a precedent to be set for this attempt to change the status quo through force to achieve its goal,” the president said.

“As a head-on violation of UN Security Council resolutions, North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats are in breach of international law,” the president added when speaking about North Korea. “We can no longer overlook and neglect the human rights violations and crimes against humanity being committed by the North Korean regime.”

Yoon stressed that Korea would work together with the G7 countries at the meeting to consolidate an international order based on the values of freedom and the rule of law.

On Saturday the president attended expanded sessions on topics including food, health, development and supply chains, climate change, energy and the environment, where he pledged to “extend freedom from hunger and disease” through support for countries facing food crises and contributions to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, known as CEPI. Yoon also stated his intention to take part in global decarbonization carbon efforts by joining the G7-led climate club initiative.

The Korean president made the most of his trip to Hiroshima by holding a series of summit meetings with leaders of Australia, Vietnam, India, the UK, Japan, Comoros and Indonesia. Upon returning to Korea on Sunday, Yoon met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul to discuss ways to develop bilateral relations.

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

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