Are South Korea still gambling? China | Relations | South Korea

"The South Korean government has no reason to turn against China and is unwilling to see such a situation happen."

According to Yonhap News Agency on the 25th, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin made the latest statement on South Korea China relations in a program that day, and stated that South Korea will continue to strengthen strategic communication with China and enhance bilateral friendship.

Just over a decade ago, the South Korean government was furious and directly accused Chinese Ambassador to South Korea, Xing Haiming, of making inappropriate remarks about South Korean policies that displeased the South Korean people.

The source of the incident was that Ambassador Xing Haiming issued a factual warning during his meeting with leaders of the opposition party in South Korea, stating that "some people bet on the United States winning and China losing, which is clearly a misjudgment and a failure to see the historical trend clearly." "Those who bet on China losing now will definitely regret it in the future.". Such a statement immediately stimulated the nerves of the South Korean side, and under the influence of some people writing articles, the already tense relationship between China and South Korea once again reached a freezing point.

In just two weeks, South Korea's attitude has changed. Has it seen the historical trend clearly or is it keeping up with the pace of the United States?

"There is no reason to turn against China"

In the above program, Park Chun emphasized that promoting the mature and healthy development of South Korea China relations in the spirit of mutual respect and mutual benefit is the basic position of the government of Yoon Seok yeol.

In addition, Park Zhen reiterated his original position on the controversial statement made by Ambassador Xing Haiming regarding South Korea, defining it as "an act that goes against the duties of a diplomat.".

It is curious how South Korea fulfills its responsibilities when facing diplomatic disputes.

The Governor of Chang'an Street noted that Secretary of State Brinken of the United States visited China from 18 to 19 this month, and talked with Piao Zhen before and after that. Later, he sent Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Critenblink, who accompanied him to China, to South Korea to introduce the results of his visit to China.

According to the report, Park Jin summarized the core content of the US explanation as "stabilizing US China relations and striving to promote bilateral relations towards competition and cooperation, rather than confrontation and contradiction.". However, in his summary, some key information was also omitted.

According to South Korean media reports, on the 21st, Kristen Brink met with the Deputy Foreign Minister of South Korea, Choi Young sam, and the First Minister, Zhang Huzhen. In addition to the US China relationship, both sides once again mentioned the South Korea US Japan summit held in May this year, taking advantage of the G7 summit, as well as one of the outcome documents formed by the South Korea US leadership talks in April this year - the Washington Declaration.

Both sides have unanimously decided to convene a newly established "Nuclear Consultative Group" meeting and an extended deterrence strategy consultation mechanism meeting as soon as possible in order to quickly advance the content of the declaration.

In response to the Washington Declaration, China has repeatedly stated that this is a move by the United States to achieve its own geopolitical interests, which goes against the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. It will only provoke confrontation between factions, exacerbate tensions on the peninsula, undermine regional peace and stability, and is completely useless in resolving conflicts and enhancing mutual trust. China firmly opposes this.

Obviously, South Korea has not truly valued China's attitude.

At the same time, during the aforementioned meeting, South Korea and the United States unanimously believed that the denuclearization of North Korea is in the common interest of the entire international community, including China, and urged China to continue to play a constructive role in this regard.

On one hand, they hope that China will play a crucial role in the Korean Peninsula issue, while on the other hand, they turn a deaf ear to China's statements and frequently challenge China's bottom line on issues such as Taiwan. This move by the South Korean side can be considered a split.

"We should repair our relationship with China as soon as possible"

Just as Park Jin expressed his desire to enhance bilateral friendship, some Korean airlines have begun to suspend some of their South Korean China routes.

Yonhap News Agency quoted sources familiar with the situation as saying that Korean Airlines, Korean Asia Airlines, and other Korean airlines will temporarily suspend some of their round-trip routes between South Korea and China throughout the summer season. Although both airlines have stated that there will be other routes resuming or increasing during the same period, reports indicate that the reason for the suspension is closely related to the recent cooling of South Korea China relations and the slow growth of passengers traveling between the two countries.

The above report stated that on March 10th, China announced the second batch of countries to resume outbound team tourism, while South Korea was not included. According to aviation statistics from the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the number of passengers traveling to China from January to May this year was 1.206374 million, only 16.7% of the number of passengers in the same period of 2019.

The rewards of keeping up with the pace of the United States have not yet arrived, but the cost has arrived ahead of schedule.

On the 15th, a delegation of 7 members from the first batch of visiting legislators from South Korea's largest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea, arrived in Beijing. At the subsequent press conference, legislator Hong Yipyo stated that the delegation of legislators mentioned to China the issue that South Korea is not included in the list of destination countries for outbound group tours, and China promised to actively consider including South Korea in the list of destination countries for outbound and group tours.

Of course, China's commitment must also be based on South Korea's demonstrated sincerity in communication. Since April this year, South Korean President Yoon Seok yeol made inappropriate remarks related to Taiwan, the dialogue between China and South Korea has almost come to a halt, and relations have continued to deteriorate.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated at a regular press conference held on the 15th that the more difficult bilateral relations are, the more the two governments and people from all walks of life need to strengthen communication and jointly play a positive role in promoting the healthy and stable development of China South Korea relations.

With Antony Blinken's visit to China, there have been many voices calling for the restoration of relations with China in South Korea.

The Korean National Daily recently pointed out that in the face of serious contradictions and tensions, both China and the United States have clearly stated their control over the situation and actively engaged in dialogue. Other major countries have also engaged in intensive diplomatic activities with China, which is in sharp contrast to the risk-free government of Yin Xiyue. If the ongoing confrontation between China and the United States suddenly turns to dialogue, where will South Korea stand? When will South Korean citizens continue to feel uneasy about Yoon Seok yeol's diplomatic movements? I hope Yin Xiyue can face the international situation head-on.

According to experts cited by the Korean Herald, South Korea should repair its relationship with China as soon as possible, preferably by the end of this year. Zheng Zaixing, a research committee member of the Sejong Institute in South Korea, said that Seoul needs to improve its relationship with Beijing, although such changes will come at a cost.

This time, whether to distinguish right from wrong or continue on the wrong path depends on how South Korea, which has just released positive signals, will choose.