President Moon Jae-in, attending the summit of the Group of Seven (G7) economies in the U.K., on June 12 holds bilateral talks with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at Tregenna Castle Resort in Cornwall. (Cheong Wa Dae's official Twitter page)

By Yoon Hee Young

President Moon Jae-in on June 12 held bilateral talks with Australia and Germany on the sidelines of the summit of the Group of Seven (G7) economies in the U.K.

In the morning, the chief executive and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke at Tregenna Castle Resort in Cornwall.

Korea and Australia are not G7 member states but both were invited to this year's summit.

Both leaders agreed that their participation in the summit was because of the G7's "high expectations" of their countries' roles in resolving global issues in the post-COVID-19 era.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Korean-Australian ties, and the two sides agreed to build the foundation for improving bilateral relations.

The talks continued for 47 minutes, exceeding the originally scheduled 30.

In economic cooperation, President Moon and Prime Minister Morrison decided to make efforts to create synergy by combining Australia's hydrogen energy output with Korea's hydrogen economy.

They also agreed to boost economic cooperation in the post-COVID-19 era through the immediate effectuation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world's biggest free trade agreement signed in November last year by 10 ASEAN (Associations of Southeast Asian Nations) member countries as well as Korea, Australia, China, Japan and New Zealand.

The Australian leader suggested elevating the bilateral relationship to a "comprehensive partnership," to which President Moon agreed.

President Moon Jae-in on June 12 holds bilateral talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at Carbis Bay Hotel in Cornwall. (Yonhap News)

In the afternoon, President Moon held bilateral talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at Carbis Bay Hotel in Cornwall. They discussed a wide range of issues like response to COVID-19, climate change and Northeast Asia including the Korean Peninsula.

Chancellor Merkel praised and congratulated Korea for its economic recovery to pre-COVID-19 levels through the efforts of the Korean people and President Moon's leadership.

President Moon indicated the need to find a method of cooperation between Germany, a world leader in vaccine development, and Korea, whose strength is in vaccine production, according to Cheong Wa Dae Spokesperson Park Kyung-mee.

President Moon Jae-in on June 12 greets AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot ahead of their talks at Tregenna Castle Resort in Cornwall. (Cheong Wa Dae's official Facebook page)

After his talks with Prime Minister Morrison, the president held a meeting with Pascal Soriot, CEO of the global pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

The president asked the company for cooperation to ensure a stable supply of COVID-19 vaccines in the second half of the year.

The CEO responded by saying his company will do its best, calling Korea a "top-priority partner."

Both men discussed AstraZeneca's cooperation with Korea through the country's pharmaceutical companies, the Korean Health Industry Development Institute and domestic cancer centers in next-generation vaccines against COVID-19, cross-vaccination, anticancer medicines and R&D activities for cardiovascular disease, Spokesperson Park added.

hyyoon@korea.kr