South Korea not considering diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics: Moon

President Moon Jae-in speaks as Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison listens to during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Monday. Yonhap

By Nam Hyun-woo

• Published Dec 13, 2021 4:34 PM KST
• Updated Dec 14, 2021 9:53 AM KST

President Moon takes cautious step toward China during summit with Australia

By Nam Hyun-woo

President Moon Jae-in maintained a cautious approach toward China during a press conference after a summit with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Monday, saying South Korea was not considering a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, something Australia and other U.S. allies have already announced.

During the conference, Moon also stressed that his state visit to Australia and subsequent signing of raw material and defense MOUs also have nothing to do with China, in order to downplay anticipations that Korea's strengthening of ties with the key U.S. ally, which has been in a deepening diplomatic and economic row with China, would give a negative signal to Beijing.

“Regarding the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games, South Korea did not receive any request to join it, and the government is not considering it,” Moon said during the press conference.

“Today's state visit has nothing to do with China,” Moon said. “South Korea's stance is that it is very important for the country's national interest to expand the supply chain for key natural resources, a hydrogen economy and technological exchanges with Australia, as well as enhancing bilateral defense cooperation including the Australian military's first project to acquire (Korean-made) self-propelled howitzers. We also thought these would be very significant for regional peace, prosperity and the global economic recovery.”

Since the U.S. announced its boycott of the Beijing Games last week, South Korea has been under indirect pressure to join the movement, alongside Australia, the U.K. and other U.S. allies. Seoul, however, has been showing signs that it may not do so, given the economic importance of China, which is its largest trade partner.

When the government decided to allow the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here, Beijing initiated economic retaliation that dealt a fatal blow to major South Korean businesses operating in China. Also, Moon's hope to declare an official end to the Korean War with North Korea on the sidelines of the Games has been a factor preventing South Korea clearly stating its stance.

Against this backdrop, Moon's state visit to Australia and subsequent signing of the MOUs drew concerns over giving a negative signal to China.

After the summit, South Korean and Australian ministers signed MOUs on shared efforts to stabilize the supply chain for critical minerals and hydrogen. Also, the two sides signed a defense MOU and a contract for South Korea's Hanwha Defense to supply 30 K-9 self-propelled howitzer to the Australian Army. The weapons will be produced in Australia as the Huntsman AS9 self-propelled artillery system.

“There could be conflict and competition with China, but at the same time there are areas for cooperation such as climate change, supply chains, infectious diseases and other global challenges,” Moon said when asked about how the two countries can stand up against China's economic retaliation. “By managing these areas harmoniously, South Korea will cooperate with Australia for a free and open Indo-Pacific, regional peace and prosperity.”

While Moon strived to take a neutral stance on China, Morrison stressed the importance of the AUKUS and Quad arrangements, which are widely believed as vehicles to counter Beijing's assertive actions, in an apparent effort to have South Korea join the U.S.-led anti-China campaigns. AUKUS is a U.S.-led trilateral security pact comprised of Australia and the U.K. aimed at countering China, and the Quad is a security forum comprised of the U.S., Australia, India and Japan.

“Korea clearly understands the challenges that Australia faces in our region and our sovereign interests, and that we need to take steps and form partnerships that enables us to protect our sovereign interests in this part of the world. No one better understands those issues, I think, better than Korea,” Morrison said.

“Both of these partnerships are about ensuring that Australia can be a stronger partner for so many others. So the capabilities that we were able to acquire through the AUKUS partnership means that we can be a better partner with Korea in our bilateral relationship.”

North Korea 'agrees' to ending Korean War

When questioned about the process of his proposal for declaring an end to the Korean War, Moon said “The U.S., China and North Korea all showed their agreement on the proposal in principle.”

“However, since North Korea is demanding the U.S. withdraw its hostile policies as a precondition, we are not in the conversation stage yet,” he added.

So far, there have been signals and diplomatic rhetoric that both the U.S. and China support Moon's proposal, but this was the first time for the President to say that North Korea also agreed to the end-of-war declaration in principle.

Following Moon's remark, the South Korean Ministry of Unification said in a press briefing that the remark was based on the two previous agreements between the two Koreas' leaders and North Korea leader Kim Jong-un's remarks on his interest in the proposal, rather than an official agreement with North Korea.

“In 2007 and 2018, the two Koreas' leaders agreed on pursuing an end-of-war declaration,” unification ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said.

During his remarks, Moon stressed that the end-of-war declaration was not an “ultimate goal,” and “agreements between involved countries on the content of the declaration and discussions on what kind of process should be pursued after the declaration” are required before reaching the “end-of-war status.”