President Lee's G7 summit debut sets stage for 'pragmatic diplomacy'

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President Lee's G7 summit debut sets stage for 'pragmatic diplomacy'

Published: 16 Jun. 2025, 07:00 Updated: 09 Jul. 2025, 15:25

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

SEO JI-EUN
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

The flag of Canada, left, and the flag of Alberta flap in the breeze with Wedge Mountain in the background at the site of the upcoming G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, on June 2. [AP/YONHAP]

[EXPLAINER]

For the third time in the past decade, South Korea will take part in a summit of the Group of Seven (G7) nations, underscoring the country's growing presence on the global stage.

The upcoming G7 meeting in Kananaskis in Alberta, Canada, from June 15 to 17 will mark President Lee Jae-myung’s first major appearance on the world stage since taking office less than two weeks earlier.

When he comes face-to-face with U.S. President Donald Trump and other leaders of the world’s major democracies at the summit, Lee has an opportunity to exercise the “pragmatic” approach to diplomacy he promised during his election campaign.

What is the G7?

The G7 comprises the world’s leading industrialized democracies, whose leaders hold an annual meeting to collectively steer global economics, security policy, and climate action.

Originating as an ad hoc gathering of finance ministers in 1973, the G7 currently includes the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, with the European Union also participating as a non-enumerated member.

Leadership of the group rotates annually among its members.

Though the group became known as the G8 after Russia joined in 1997, it reverted to being known as the G7 after Moscow was suspended in 2014 for annexing Crimea — a turning point that led the G7 to emphasize its commitment to democratic principles and international law.

For much of its history, the G7 has positioned itself as a steering committee for the global economy, promoting open markets, democratic governance, and collective responses to geopolitical crises. Its influence, however, has come under increasing scrutiny.

In recent years, the G7 has struggled to present a unified front amid divergent climate policies, a surge in economic nationalism and trade protectionism, and the ascent of nonmember powers such as China and India.

However, the group remains a potent force as its members collectively hold 50 percent of international nominal net wealth and approximately 10 percent of the world’s population.

How did South Korea get invited?

Though invitations to G7 summits have been extended to international institutions and countries outside of the group since the late 1970s and 80s, the participation of nonmember states became a common feature in the 1990s.

These invitations are typically extended by the host nation for specific sessions on global issues like development, climate change or trade, rather than full participation in core discussions involving member states.

In 2008, then-President Lee Myung-bak became the first South Korean leader to be invited to a G8 summit, which was held that year in Toyako, Japan. He also joined the subsequent summit in 2009 in L’Aquila, Italy.

Though it remains outside of G7, South Korea was invited to this year’s summit by Canada to join expanded sessions on global economic and security issues, according to Seoul’s presidential office.

Why isn't Seoul a member?

Over the years, the G7 has been criticized as “outdated” for not including other advanced or developing democracies as members.

Proponents of enlargement argue that the current membership no longer reflects the geopolitical and economic realities of the 21st century. They argue expansion could bolster the G7’s legitimacy, making it a more representative body and strengthening global governance, particularly on transnational challenges like climate change, pandemic response, and digital regulation.

Some Western strategists further frame enlargement as a way to transform the G7 into a broader group of democracies that could serve as a counterweight to the growing influence of authoritarian regimes, notably China and Russia.

However, critics of enlargement warn that expansion could undermine the G7’s identity as a forum for advanced democracies and its capacity for informal, consensus-based diplomacy, particularly if new members are marked by divergent values or economic priorities.

Some also argue that the existence of the G20 — which already includes major emerging economies — makes G7 expansion redundant.

Any move to expand could also raise sensitive questions about which countries qualify, potentially sparking diplomatic frictions or regional imbalances.

Both Trump and former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested permanently including South Korea, India and Australia in the G7 when they chaired the group in 2020 and 2021.

However, their proposals were met with strong pushback from not only China — which suggested the group was being retooled into an anti-Beijing bloc — but also from Japan, which has historically prized its role as the G7’s sole Asian member.

From left: Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, former Korean President Moon Jae-in, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former U.S. President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga attend an expanded session of the G7 summit in Cornwall, Britain, on June 12, 2021. [YONHAP]

What were previous presidents’ messages?

By attending this year’s summit, President Lee Jae-myung is expected to highlight South Korea’s growing importance in global affairs, as did his predecessors Moon Jae-in in 2021 and Yoon Suk Yeol in 2023.

Moon was first asked to join the talks by Trump in 2020, though that year’s summit was ultimately canceled due to the pandemic. The invitation was extended again a year later by Johnson, who chaired the summit in Cornwall.

Moon’s attendance coincided with South Korea’s rise to become the world’s tenth-largest economy and its early success in managing the Covid-19 crisis.

At the summit, he pledged $200 million to Covax to support vaccine distribution in developing nations, underscoring Seoul’s role as a “bridge” between advanced and developing countries.

His successor, Yoon, used the 2023 summit in Hiroshima to deepen bilateral ties across Asia and the Indo-Pacific, including meetings with leaders from Japan, India, and Ukraine.

Yoon sought to align South Korea more closely with the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, known as the Quad, through talks focused on infrastructure, development aid and regional security.

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, third from left in the front row, claps after posing for a commemorative photo at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 20, 2023. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

One of the key outcomes of the 2023 summit was a trilateral meeting between Yoon, then-U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, where the trio pledged to closer cooperation against North Korea’s weapons programs and broader security in the Indo-Pacific.

How might Lee proceed?

Attention now turns to whether Lee will hold similar side meetings in Alberta.

While Yoon championed a vision of South Korea as a “global pivotal state,” Lee has pledged to pursue a more pragmatic diplomacy rooted in national interest.

His new administration is expected to focus on navigating deepening U.S.-China tensions and the economic headwinds unleashed by Trump’s tariffs.

Still, Lee has reaffirmed Seoul’s commitment to its alliance with Washington, describing it as the “foundation” of South Korean foreign policy, and expressed support for continued trilateral cooperation with the United States and Japan.

Officials in Seoul and Tokyo say a trilateral meeting between Lee, Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba remains a possibility.

The upcoming G7 summit will not only allow Lee to represent a stabilized South Korea, but also “help him recognize Seoul’s significant role on the world stage,” according to Victor Cha, president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Cha also said the South Korean president’s attendance is unlikely to ruffle feathers in Beijing as the G7 is not an “anti-China bloc,” but noted that accepting NATO’s invitation to attend its summit a week later — which Lee has yet to do — “may provoke a stronger reaction.”

However, Cha warned that Lee would be unlikely to achieve any major breakthroughs with regards to tariffs at the G7 summit.

“There simply isn’t enough time for a substantive negotiation on the sidelines,” he said, adding the summit would “likely be more of a meet-and-greet” for Lee and Trump.

“At best, we might see an interim agreement on tariff reductions and easing of nontariff barriers, in exchange for an extension of the current exemptions through the fall,” he added.

BY MICHAEL LEE AND SEO JI-EUN [[email protected]]