Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.
South Korea reiterates 'no Beijing Olympics boycott' stance
Officials from Korea's security and foreign affairs-related ministries hold a joint press conference at the Inter-Korean Dialogue Office in Seoul, Thursday, to give a briefing on the government's policies on diplomacy, security and North Korea for next year. From left are Yeo Seung-bae, the deputy minister for political affairs at the foreign ministry, Yoo Dong-joon, a senior official at the defense ministry, and Vice Unification Minister Choi Young-jun. Yonhap
By Kang Seung-woo
By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea reaffirmed its position, Thursday, to continue strengthening its strategic partnership with China, as part of its efforts to gain Beijing's support for North Korean nuclear talks, despite the U.S.' continuing pressure on Seoul to join its anti-China campaign.
Amid the intensifying strategic competition between the U.S. and China, South Korea finds itself caught between a long-standing security relationship and an economic behemoth. Thus, Seoul has refrained from picking a side through maintaining a difficult balancing act.
However, the Moon Jae-in administration is currently showing signs of backing China more firmly to gain leverage in its peace initiative of declaring an end to the Korean War and consequently reviving the stalled North Korean nuclear negotiations.
As a result, the South Korean government is considering sending its officials to the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics in February although the Joe Biden administration is rallying its allies and partners to boycott the sporting event diplomatically by not sending an official delegation.
“The South Korean government's stance is that we hope that a relay of the Olympic Games from PyeongChang in 2018, to Tokyo in 2021, to Beijing in 2022 will contribute to peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia and the world, and help improve inter-Korean relations,” Deputy Minister for Political Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Yeo Seung-bae said during a joint press conference with representatives of the unification and defense ministries regarding next year's foreign policy report to President Moon.
Although he added that South Korea has not made any decision about sending a government delegation to Beijing, a senior official of the unification ministry also said that the Korean government had played the role of the host country of the previous Winter Olympics, indicating that Seoul is likely to take part in the Beijing Games.
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Korea and China next year, the foreign ministry official said that the government was set to bolster bilateral ties with China into a more mature, future-oriented, strategic and cooperative relationship.
“Earlier this year, President Moon and Chinese President Xi Jinping declared 2021 to 2022 as the South Korea-China year of cultural exchange, and we are preparing for relevant projects. In addition, the Committee for Future-Oriented Development of Korea-China Relations is also working to release its report about a vision for future cooperation between the two countries,” Yeo said.
The government also reaffirmed its decision to push for the proposed declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War to help bring Pyongyang back to a dialogue.
However, since Moon's proposal of the declaration in September, it has been called into question over its sustainability, given that the President's term is scheduled to end in May, and the opposition party stands against the initiative.
“Issues regarding building peace on the Korean Peninsula, denuclearizing the peninsula and improving inter-Korean ties should reach across the aisles,” the unification ministry official said.
“We are set to pave the way for South Korea to resolve those issues regardless of what kind of government is installed.”