Yoon Seok-yeol’s ‘Semiconductor Alliance’, Dutch Prime Minister announces retirement, ‘defense cooperation’
President Yoon Seok-yeol spoke of a ‘semiconductor alliance’ at the Dutch summit press conference, but the Dutch Prime Minister, who announced his retirement after losing the general election in November and will step down in the next coalition government, spoke of ‘extensive defense cooperation’, leaving a wide gap.
At a joint press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on the 13th, President Yoon said, "Korea and the Netherlands' goal is to create the world's best gap in the semiconductor field. If the semiconductor-related relationship between Korea and the Netherlands has been a 'close cooperative relationship,' this “The visit elevated this cooperation to an ‘alliance relationship,’” he said.
Prime Minister Rutte said, "South Korea is one of the countries that cooperates very closely with NATO, along with Japan, the United States, and New Zealand." The ‘Semiconductor Alliance’ was avoided.
Geert Wilders, a far-right lawmaker who achieved a shocking victory in the Dutch general election on the 22nd of last month, said during a parliamentary debate on the 13th, "I want to become prime minister for all Dutch people," but foreign media reported that forming a coalition government would be difficult.
The AP said, “He promised that his policies would ensure compliance with the country’s constitution, but the move was aimed at allaying concerns from potential coalition partners about his hardline anti-Islam rhetoric and plans to ban mosques, Islamic schools and the Quran.” After weeks of preliminary talks with party leaders, Ronald Plasterk, the official appointed by the Dutch parliament to investigate the ruling coalition, said on Wednesday that Wilders had won 20 seats for the reformist New Social Contract party in negotiations with three other parties over the formation of a new government. Pieter Omtzit, the leader of the New Social Contract, expressed a negative outlook on the formation of a coalition government, saying, “I expressed concern that some of Wilders’ election promises violate the constitutional guarantee of freedom, including religious freedom.”
In the Netherlands, where President Yoon announced the semiconductor alliance at the summit, Prime Minister Rutte's People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (People's Party for Freedom and Democracy) was already defeated by 24 seats in the general election (House of Representatives election) on the 22nd of last month, and he was elected to the Hague National Assembly in July. He said, “I will retire from politics in the new coalition government after the general election as I have decided that the job of leader of the People's Party for Liberty and Democracy (VVD) is impossible,” and attended the summit while already leaving diplomatic work.
Of the 160 seats, the far-right Liberal Party is the majority party with 37 seats, but the Green Left Party and the Labor Alliance (GL-PvdA) each have 25 seats, so a coalition of progressive parties was expected, and the far-right Liberal Party has already voted to withdraw from the European Union (EU) and oppose immigration restrictions. It showed a complete gap with Korea's semiconductor alliance due to its extreme right-wing pledges on Islam and other issues.
Dylan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, the new leader of the Liberal Democratic People's Party, who succeeded Prime Minister Rutte, declared that he would not participate in the coalition with Wilders of the far-right Liberty Party and announced in parliament that he would 'support a center-right coalition'.
The new Dutch parliament is comprised of 15 political parties and includes 67 new members with no parliamentary experience. December is the most volatile time for politics, and President Yoon chose this time as the time for the summit.
At a press conference on this day, President Yoon was asked, "What achievements do you think there were in the semiconductor field during this trip?" President Yoon responded, "If the semiconductor-related relationship between Korea and the Netherlands has been a 'close cooperative relationship,' this visit will transform this cooperative relationship into an 'alliance relationship.'" “The goal of Korea and the Netherlands is to create the world’s best gap in the semiconductor field,” he said.