Germany's Merz heads to Asia as security issues loom large

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz kicked off a five-day tour of Asia on Monday, traveling to Singapore before scheduled visits to Japan and South Korea. Merz is accompanied by an entourage of 30 senior businesspeople, including representatives of Germany's industry, tech and defense companies, and energy suppliers. At the same time, Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is visiting China. While the trips are not officially related, they both seem aimed at boosting Berlin's economic and security relationships at a time of geopolitical instability which threatens global supply chains.

Japan seeks new allies

In Singapore, Merz is set to deliver a major foreign policy speech and meet Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. He will then travel to Japan on Wednesday to meet with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and take part in the German-Japanese Business Summit.

According to Ascione, Japan would also welcome Germany deploying its military assets to the region, following its Bayern frigate docking in Tokyo in 2021 and its fighter jets conducting air drills with Japanese fighters in 2024. The frigate Bayern became the first German Navy warship to dock in Tokyo in 20 years in May 2021 and went on to conduct air and maritime exercises with Japanese units.

Merz and Takaichi are expected to exchange views on responding to geopolitical threats, including ensuring supply chain resilience, protecting strategically important industries and ensuring access to technologies and components, such as the rare earths that are critical to a range of advanced technologies but remain largely controlled by China.

South Korea's North Korea policy

Merz is then scheduled to visit South Korea, where he will meet with President Lee Jae-myung and open the 19th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business in Seoul. He is also due to visit the Demilitarized Zone that marks the border between North and South Korea.

Security issues will again dominate discussions in Seoul, believes Saeme Kim, a research fellow at The Asan Institute for Policy Studies. However, the German leader could voice concerns about South Korea's perceived "outreach" efforts towards North Korea and, by extension, Russia.

The South continues to provide humanitarian assistance to North Korea, even as the regime forges ever closer economic ties with China and Russia. Merz could offer insight into two Koreas trying to work with one another, drawing on the German experience of reuniting in 1990, though Kim noted significant differences. "The two Koreas are still technically at war and Seoul has to deal with an aspiring nuclear power on its border." Merz's visit to the border could be canceled due to lingering tensions over the North Korean mine injuring three South Korean soldiers last month.