First G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting Since U.S. Midterm Elections to Be Held; Foreign Minister Cho Hyun Departs for Paris

[Financial News] For the first time since the U.S. midterm elections, foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) will gather in Paris, France, to discuss stabilizing the situation in the Middle East, among other issues. South Korea, which has begun the parliamentary approval process to expand the Cheonghae Unit’s mission to areas near the Strait of Hormuz, will also attend the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting as an invited country.
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will visit Paris from the 8th to the 11th to attend the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and is expected to hold separate bilateral talks with ministers from major countries. With U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s attendance confirmed, the two ministers are expected to hold their first separate meeting since the U.S. midterm elections.
The U.S. State Department said that Secretary Rubio would visit Paris to meet with G7 foreign ministers and discuss support for Ukraine and ways to stabilize the situation in the Middle East, among other issues.
The meeting is expected to be a turning point in sharing the U.S. administration’s roadmap for ending the war in the Middle East after the U.S. midterm elections, as G7 members and key allies gather to flesh out measures to stabilize the postwar order in the region.
The G7 foreign ministers’ meeting is expected to include discussions on the global response following the end of the Iran war. The South Korean government has begun the parliamentary approval process for expanding the Cheonghae Unit, which has operated in the Gulf of Aden, to areas near Duqm Port in Oman, about 650 kilometers from the Strait of Hormuz. The plan also calls for adding a maritime patrol aircraft, an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team and unmanned mine-clearance equipment to the unit’s capabilities.
If separate talks between the South Korean and U.S. foreign ministers take place, behind-the-scenes discussions on the possibility of a North Korea–United States summit could also be held on the sidelines of next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ meeting in Shenzhen, China. There are expectations that the Trump administration, having lost in the U.S. midterm elections, may make an unconventional offer of dialogue with North Korea to achieve diplomatic gains on the international stage.



[email protected] Kim Kyung-soo Reporter