Moon Jae-in yet to resolve conflict over THAAD
President Moon Jae-in, left, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidlelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg Germany, Saturday. / Reuters-Yonhap
President walking tightrope between US and China
By Yi Whan-woo
President Moon Jae-in has concluded a successful diplomatic debut at the Group of 20 summit in Germany, but only reaffirmed differences on the U.S. anti-missile system with China, and the comfort women deal with Japan.
The G20 summit that ended in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday, leaves concerns that the U.S. missile interceptor in South Korea may hinder full-pledged support from China and Russia in curbing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
True, Moon and Xi Jinping agreed to work closely on North Korea’s ever-growing nuclear threats in their first summit on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
But they only re-ascertained their differences when it came to deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here, which has led to economic retaliation by China against South Korea.
In response to Moon’s demand to drop such retaliatory measures, Xi asked him to withdraw the THAAD battery and reiterated Beijing’s argument that it undermines regional security instead of exclusively deterring North Korea’s ballistic missile attacks.
Xi also reiterated the blood alliance between China and North Korea when Moon asked him to play a bigger role in pressuring Pyongyang, hinting that Beijing may not be fully complying with international sanctions on the North.
In his one-on-one meeting with Moon on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Russian President Vlaidmir Putin underscored stronger sanctions and pressure on North Korea. But in separate talks with Xi held in Moscow prior to the G20 meeting, Putin renewed his opposition to THAAD.
In this climate, the U.N. Security Council failed to adopt a statement, Thursday, condemning North Korea’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Russia, a veto-wielding member of the UNSC, said it objected because it disagreed with a U.S.-drafted statement labeling the missile as an ICBM.
During the UNSC emergency meeting, China reiterated Beijing’s offer for talks on a freeze of North Korea’s missile program while the U.S. hinted at unilaterally using military options.
“China is likely to be mild in its economic retaliation against South Korea considering Xi promised to improve Seoul-Beijing ties; but such a hostile policy is likely to continue for the time being,” said Kim Hyun-wook, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy. “Xi may not want to cause trouble with the U.S. as well ahead of the Chinese Communist Party Congress where a power reshuffle could take place. But when everything is settled, the possibility remains for China to turn hostile to South Korea and put dialogue on North Korea’s denuclearization on hold.”
Japan ties in trouble
Kim said the diplomatic row between South Korea and Japan over “comfort women” can also be an obstacle in bolstering their security alliance with the U.S. against North Korea.
Moon’s first talks with Japanese Prime Shinzo Abe at the G20 summit were assessed positively for resuming summit diplomacy between the two neighbors following the removal of Park Geun-hye from the presidency.
However, Moon and Abe remained poles apart in how to resolve the conflict stemming from an accord reached by the governments of Park and Abe to end the dispute on “comfort women.”
Both Moon and Abe remained firm in their previous stances — the former highlighted the Korean public’s opposition toward the controversial deal while the latter insisted on the “final and irreversible” nature of the agreement.
“President Moon earnestly delivered the message that the agreement was against public sentiment, although the two leaders had a consensus that economic and cultural cooperation should continue separately,” a senior government official said.
This was Moon’s G20 summit debut after taking office May 10.
Among other leaders he met were German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
Moon also met U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.