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Seoul Urges EU Recognition for Carbon Credit System Amid Border Tax Talks

Kim said South Korea “shares the need for efforts to respond to climate challenges by implementing the CBAM and other regulations, but they should not add unnecessary burdens on companies”…reports Asian Lite News

South Korea asked the European Union on Wednesday to recognise the country’s own carbon credit certification system regarding the EU’s new carbon border tax mechanism in an effort to prevent unnecessary burdens on companies, Seoul’s Finance Ministry said.

South Korea’s First Vice Finance Minister Kim Byoung-hwan made the request during a meeting with Gerassimos Thomas, Director-General in the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union at the European Commission, in Seoul.

The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) calls for levying an import charge on steel, cement, electricity, fertiliser, aluminium and other related items equivalent to their carbon emissions from production.

The transition period for the new mechanism began last month before the full implementation in 2026, Yonhap news agency reported.

Kim said South Korea “shares the need for efforts to respond to climate challenges by implementing the CBAM and other regulations, but they should not add unnecessary burdens on companies”.

He then called on the EU to recognise South Korea’s own carbon credit system, which will ease corporate burdens of double taxation.

Thomas said the EU will consider opinions from the South Korean government and businesses, and will continue close consultations on the issue.

The two officials also discussed ways to boost cooperation on base erosion and profit shifting, or BEPS, which refers to multinationals’ tax planning strategies to avoid taxes, according to the Ministry.

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Scholz to visit Seoul for bilateral talks

Scholz decided to visit the DMZ to witness the division of the Korean Peninsula firsthand, the official added…reports Asian Lite News

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Seoul on May 21 for a summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Yonhap News Agency reported on Thursday.

Scholz will make the trip after attending a Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on the same day. He will first visit the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which separates the two Koreas, a senior German official said during a press briefing in Berlin. He will then hold a bilateral meeting with President Yoon and before his return to Germany, he will attend a dinner hosted by President. The German chancellor will be accompanied by his wife, Britta Ernst, the official said.

Seoul’s presidential office noted his visit comes as the two countries celebrate the 140th anniversary of establishing bilateral ties through the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation in November 1883, the Yonhap News Agency report said.

“This visit is expected to serve as a valuable opportunity to enhance economic and security cooperation, and deepen solidarity and collaboration in addressing regional and international issues with Germany, a long-standing friendly country that shares universal values,” Yoon’s office said.

According to the German official, Yoon and Scholz will discuss a wide range of bilateral and international issues during their meeting, including cooperation on energy and climate change, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and Indo-Pacific security policies with a particular focus on China, News Agency Yonhap reported.

Scholz decided to visit the DMZ to witness the division of the Korean Peninsula firsthand, the official added.

As a once-divided country, Germany hopes to share its experience of reunification with South Korea and is interested in learning about Seoul’s efforts to reunify with Pyongyang, the official said.

Scholz will be the first German leader to visit Seoul in 13 years since former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s trip in 2010 to attend a Group of 20 summit, Yonhap reported.

He will also be the first German chancellor to visit Seoul for a bilateral meeting in 30 years since former Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s visit in 1993. (ANI)

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N Korea slams NATO chief’s visit to Seoul as ‘prelude’ to war

Seoul : This photo, taken Jan. 29, 2023, shows North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaking in a meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin at Seoul's foreign ministry. (Yonhap/IANS)

The North’s researcher condemned Stoltenberg as the head of the military organization that turned Ukraine into a “theatre of proxy war”…reports ASian Lite News

North Korea on Monday denounced a visit to Seoul by Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO Secretary General, as a “prelude” to war, saying the move could bring a “new Cold War” to the Asia-Pacific region.

In an article carried by the Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim Tong-myong, a researcher of the North’s organization on international political study, said Stoltenberg’s current trip appears to be aimed at “instigating” the creation of the Asian version of NATO.

“The trip of the NATO secretary general to South Korea and Japan is a prelude to confrontation and war as it brings the dark clouds of a ‘new Cold War’ to the Asia-Pacific region,” Kim said.

Stoltenberg arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a two-day stay, and in a meeting with Foreign Minister Park Jin, he said the North’s support of Russia’s war with Ukraine reinforces the need for the rest of the world to stay “interconnected” in their security efforts.

The NATO chief plans to visit Japan later in the day for a two-day visit.

The North’s researcher condemned Stoltenberg as the head of the military organization that turned Ukraine into a “theatre of proxy war”.

Kim said Stoltenberg will raise the need to build the Asian version of NATO, and put pressure on Seoul and Tokyo for their passive military support to Ukraine at a time when the US has decided to supply tanks to Ukraine.

The North has recently denounced Washington’s decision to send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, a move to help Kiev’s war with Russia.

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of the country’s leader Kim Jong-un, said last week that Washington is crossing the “red line”.

North Korea formally recognised the independence of the pro-Russian separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine, becoming the third country in the world to do so after Russia and Syria.

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