Key facts
- Merz proposed a global political alliance for rules-based trade among the EU, Asian nations, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Mercosur.
- South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung asked Merz for support so Korea would be treated like EU member states on car subsidies.
- Merz said the Franco-German car subsidy proposal sparked considerable concern in Singapore, Japan and Korea about a new wave of protectionism.
- Merz said he would take the complaints very seriously and raise them at the next EU leaders' summit.
- A request for Japan to supply Patriot anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine fell flat, and Tokyo's contribution to a new Ukraine loan remained unclear.
- Merz traveled with a large business delegation including Airbus, Diehl Defense and drone specialist Quantum-Systems.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ended a five-day trip to Singapore, Japan and South Korea on Friday, October 30, 2026, closing a tour in which Asian capitals pressed him on security and trade and he proposed a new alliance of medium-sized powers to defend rules-based trade.
Speaking at the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, Merz said he was grateful Germany had not faced such a divided border for 36 years. Shortly before he arrived, North Korea fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan, and North Korean state television on Thursday showed leader Kim Jong Un with new military drones, including a potential stealth drone.
Merz said Russia's war against Ukraine was ever-present in the region and that there was no longer such a thing as unilateral security, only collective security. He called for close work with Japan, South Korea and Singapore on security policy and in the defense industry. He traveled with a large business delegation that included Airbus, Diehl Defense and drone specialist Quantum-Systems, and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi spoke of a premium partnership with Germany.
In speeches in Tokyo and Seoul, Merz proposed a global political alliance for rules-based trade, with the EU, Asian nations, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Mercosur bloc coordinating if others challenged international rules or applied economic pressure. He said the alliance could strengthen the World Trade Organization and seek to unblock the nomination of judges to its appellate body.
The proposal ran into resistance over a Franco-German plan, agreed by Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, to restrict EU car subsidies to vehicles produced in the EU, Switzerland and the UK. South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung told reporters he had asked Merz for support so Korea would be treated like EU member states, and a similar complaint was voiced in Japan. Merz said the proposal had sparked considerable concern in Singapore, Japan and Korea about a new wave of protectionism, and said he would take the complaints very seriously and raise them at the next EU leaders' summit.
On security cooperation, a request for Japan to supply Patriot anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine fell flat, and it remained unclear whether Tokyo would continue to contribute several billions to a new Ukraine loan next year, as Brussels hopes. A Japanese diplomat, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, asked the German delegation how Germany would help Japan if China attacked Taiwan.