▲ First Moon-Biden summit that was held in Washington, on May 21. Source by: MoneyToday

On May 21, President Moon attended the first Republic of Korea (ROK)-United States (US) summit in Washington with the Biden administration ever since it came into office.

According to Tae-gyu Kim reporter, the Blue House announced that they would discuss North Korean policies to restore communication which was broken before Biden became president and is still not mended. Also, the Blue House said that they would give their best regarding matters on vaccine swap and semi-conductor investment. According to Donga.com, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, LG Energy Solution, and SK Innovation participated in the Seoul-Washington Summit to discuss high-end technology investment, specifically electric vehicle batteries and semi-conductor factories establishment.

However, paving the road to a productive meeting was not a walk in the park, considering it was the first summit for both leaders.

Speculations before the summit pointed to the Moon administration establishing nothing less than a head-on collision against Washington’s interests. Ever since he came into office, President Moon has continuously stated his policy that is aimed at uniting the Korean Peninsula.

By nature, this expresses an undisputed accommodation for North Korea with no strings attached.

His ideology was manifested in the flesh when President Moon facilitated a meeting between North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jeong Eun, and former president Trump. On June 12, 2018, there was a meeting between the two, which meant that North Korea was acknowledged as an official country and not simply as a dictatorial regime.

▲ Comparison between the Moon-Biden summit and the Biden-Suga summit

Meanwhile, prior to Moon-Biden summit, President Biden met with Japan’s Prime Minister, Suga Yoshihide. However, that meeting is considered an embarrassment within Japan. To-il Kim of Yonhap News reported that the luncheon lasted only for 20 minutes, with Prime Minister Suga not being able to “touch” his burgers with masks. In order to avoid such humiliation, the Blue House sent a request to Washington implying they should hold a more formal lunch meeting – a possible connotation of disbelief towards Washington.

However, pre-summit ups and downs were trounced by the results.

The summit lasted for 171 minutes and the luncheon, 37. Compared to the Biden-Suga summit, the Moon-Biden summit progressed with the leaders taking off their masks, indicating/meaning a firm mutual trust between two leaders.

The Blue House was able to pull off the unexpected - the termination of the Revised Missile Guidelines - after consultations with the U.S. And this gave not only a chance for ROK to develop its military capabilities but also encouraged to bolster development in space-aeronautics.

ROK signed contracts with Moderna and Novavax to toll-manufacture vaccines. Samsung Biologics(SB), SK Bioscience(SKBS), and the Ministry of Health and Welfare(MHW) consulted with Moderna and Novavax, respectively. ROK will utilize the best technologies of the foreign companies and enable the whole process from vaccine research to development to final production.

Also, U.S. agreed to supply vaccines for approximately 550,000 Korean military personnel. This will strengthen the alliance between ROK and the U.S. Also, it will help to protect not only the Korean military but also, U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.

▲ Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(KCDC) and SK Bioscience(SKB) signs vaccine toll-manufacture contracts with NovaVax (Source by: medifonews)

Meanwhile, Korean companies including Samsung Electronics, SK Innovation, and Hyundai have expressed their commitment to invest approximately $40 billion in the U.S., on the latest technologies such as 5G, semi-conductor, and even electric vehicle batteries.

This will tie into President Biden’s efforts to reduce US reliance on Chinese high supplies. Moreover, Donga Il Bo News Agency, reported that Samsung Electronics and SK Innovation have announced they are planning to establish additional semiconductor foundries in the U.S.