Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday morning (local time), the first destination of their five-day trip to East Asia, which will take them to Japan as well as South Korea. “I would like to thank the partners for standing closely together against Russian aggression in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia,” he said just before the start of his visit. “Japan and Korea are countries that, like us, are concerned about the developments in Eastern Europe since February 24. Both countries condemn Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” said Steinmeier during the flight to Tokyo. “Both countries are looking at rising global inflation and the consequences for the global economy with similar concerns as we are.”
He is excited to learn how they dealt with these challenges. One of the most important lessons from the Russian aggression is “that in future we must prevent one-sided dependencies wherever possible, and that we expand our relationships with partners who share our values,” emphasized Steinmeier, referring to Germany. “We will also rebalance the relationship in Southeast Asia.” Germany could learn politically and economically from Japan and Korea, especially in dealing with China’s growing claim to power.
Steinmeier’s most important interlocutor will be Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on Tuesday. The Japanese Emperor Naruhito will receive him on Wednesday. Steinmeier is accompanied by a business delegation. After three days in Tokyo and Kyoto, he will visit South Korea on Friday and Saturday. It is Steinmeier’s second trip to Asia in his second term. In early summer he had visited Singapore and Indonesia.