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President Yoon Suk-yeol shakes hands with Janet Yellen, the US secretary of the treasury, during a meeting at the presidential office in Seoul’s Yongsan District on July 19. (presidential office pool photo)

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol stressed the importance of joint efforts with the US to address global inflation during a meeting Tuesday with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, underscoring the need to stabilize global energy prices and resolve supply chain difficulties.

The matter of additional economic sanctions against North Korea was not discussed during the meeting that day, the presidential office said.

Yoon’s meeting with Yellen took place Tuesday afternoon at his presidential office in Seoul. Yellen’s visit to South Korea is her first since she became treasury secretary in January 2021.

During the meeting, Yoon said that the “present crisis faced by the world is not something that can be resolved through the efforts of any one country” and “must be overcome through joint efforts among countries based on solidarity and cooperation,” presidential office spokesperson Kang In-sun reported.

Yoon also reaffirmed the full-scale strengthening of the South Korea-US alliance that was agreed upon during his bilateral summit with US President Joe Biden in May.

“At a time when the whole world is being assailed by various complex crises, I look forward to the comprehensive strategic alliance between South Korea and the US continuing robustly not only in the areas of political and military security and industry and technology security, but also as an alliance of economic and financial security,” he said.

“I give my full support to the US’ global leadership in the area of economic security,” he was quoted as saying.

Yellen also said she agreed on the need for the two sides to develop their security alliance into an alliance in the areas of industry and technology.

Yoon reportedly asked for “in-depth discussions between South Korean and US authorities on various forms of practical cooperation toward foreign exchange market stability.” This request comes on the heels of the two sides’ statement at their May summit on “the need to consult closely on foreign exchange market developments.”

But the meeting between Yoon and Yellen did not include discussions on a potential South Korea-US currency swap, which has been mentioned as a possible policy approach to deal with the crisis of foreign currency outflows owing to the strong dollar.

According to the presidential office, Yoon expressed his “hope that the US will also cooperate so that the two sides’ relative currency values can be stabilized.”

After her meeting with Yoon, Yellen also met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho, with the two of them agreeing to continue discussions in connection with the foreign exchange market.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Choo and Yellen agreed that there was “room for South Korea and the US to implement various cooperative measures” to promote foreign exchange market stability, including “liquidity supply mechanisms as needed.”

Speaking to the press on her flight to Seoul on Monday, Yellen said that additional sanctions were possible as a way of pressuring North Korea into giving up its nuclear program.

But an official with South Korea’s presidential office said Tuesday that there had been no discussion of additional sanctions against the North.

Meanwhile, Yellen also sent a clear message of Washington’s intent to rein in China and Russia during a visit to LG Chem the same morning.

In her remarks, she stressed the need to address problems regarding countries’ security interests being threatened by “unfair Chinese practices” and to create an environment where the market is supported by the establishment of a free and secure trade order. She also said that countries like China needed to be prevented from gaining monopoly status.

Regarding Russia, she said, “Having domestic sources of renewable energy means we won’t be at the whims of authoritarians like Vladimir Putin,” stressing that investment in the US would be a way of “bolstering manufacturing, lowering energy costs, and reducing emissions.”

Yellen also stressed the need for “friend-shoring” between South Korea and the US.

“By working with key allies like Korea to develop stronger supply chains for key components like EV batteries or semiconductors, we can make both of our economies stronger and help ease the blockages,” she said. “Friend-shoring” is a term that combines the concepts of “friendship” and “building production facilities,” referring to the creation of shared supply chains by allies supporting the same values.

By Bae Ji-hyun, staff reporter; Choi Woo-ri, staff reporter; Park Jong-o, staff reporter

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