Merz tours Asia to boost security ties amid China, North Korea — SkimNews
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- Friedrich Merz began a five-day tour of Asia, visiting Singapore, Japan, and South Korea with a 30-member delegation of business and defense leaders to deepen security and economic partnerships.
- Germany and Japan conducted joint military drills in 2021 and 2024, with the German frigate Bayern docking in Tokyo and Eurofighter Typhoons conducting air exercises with Japanese forces in northern Japan.
- Ben Ascione stated that Japan welcomes Germany’s military presence in the Indo-Pacific and sees Berlin as aligning more closely with Tokyo’s concerns about China’s regional assertiveness and threats to the rules-based order.
- Saeme Kim noted European nations are irritated by South Korea’s outreach to North Korea and Russia, including petroleum exports and humanitarian aid, despite Pyongyang’s military cooperation with Moscow in Ukraine.
- Friedrich Merz is scheduled to visit the Korean Demilitarized Zone, though the trip may be canceled due to tensions following a North Korean mine incident that injured three South Korean soldiers last month.
Why it matters: Germany is expanding its military and economic footprint in Asia to counter shared threats from China, Russia, and North Korea, while signaling unease with Seoul’s diplomatic overtures to Pyongyang—potentially straining EU-South Korea relations as supply chain resilience becomes a core security priority.
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