Germany news: Merz calls for Korean reunification at DMZ

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has expressed hope for Korean reunification during a visit to the heavily fortified border. Meanwhile, President Steinmeier has held talks with China's Xi Jinping in Beijing.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday visited the Panmunjom truce village at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea, briefly standing on the North Korean side inside the barracks. North and South Korea have been divided since the end of hostilities in the Korean War in 1953, with a border running across the peninsula. In remarks to reporters, Merz recalled Germany's reunification 36 years ago. "Let us hope that Korea too gets the chance one day to regain state unity," he said. "You can also notice it here at this place, how much a country suffers from division and how strong the desire is for reunification, at least in this part of the Korean Peninsula," he said, adding that he had been asked about Germany's reunification experience while visiting Seoul.

Profits of German luxury car brand Audi for the third quarter plunged 87% year-on-year to €95 million ($106 million), the Volkswagen subsidiary reported on Friday. This is a drop from €718 million seen in the same quarter last year. The drop comes amid weak demand in China, and US tariffs. "Market and competitive conditions have become significantly more difficult in the third quarter," Audi chief financial officer Jürgen Rittersberger told journalists on a call. "That all shows that we need to intensify measures and set clear priorities," he added.

Ahead of talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier lauded China's role as a global technological and economic power, while emphasizing the responsibility that comes along with it. "We both bear responsibility for the international order and for the conditions under which states in this world maintain and shape their relations," Steinmeier said. President Xi praised what he called an "all-dimensional strategic partnership" between China and Germany, calling for new cooperation based on stability and mutual benefit. "This new paradigm sends a positive signal to the world: we favor openness over closure, and cooperation over confrontation," Xi said during opening remarks, emphasizing the start of a "new chapter" in Germany-China ties.

During his final day of a whirlwind Asia tour this week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told the Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business in Seoul on Friday that Germany and Europe are ready to cooperate with Asian economies to foster a rules-based economic order. Merz said the European Union is ready to take the lead in shaping a better deal for countries in Asia feeling the pressure of a destabilized rules-based trade order. "Competition between the US and China is ramping up. Tariffs, technological decoupling strategies and a tough race for critical raw materials and new technologies are fundamentally changing the rules of our global economy," Merz said.