I am an editorial writer at The Korea Times, focusing on foreign policy, North Korea and domestic politics. My key areas of interest include North Korea, foreign interference in elections, election integrity, cyberattacks and human rights. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, I served as both Politics Desk editor and Culture Desk editor. During my career, I have reported on the Presidential Office under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly.
Chinese foreign minister to reschedule Seoul trip
By Kang Hyun-kyung
China’s top diplomat has postponed his trip to Seoul, which was initially slated for Friday and Saturday, amid mounting international pressure on China to influence North Korea to play by the rules.
The abrupt schedule change came after North Korea’s bombardment of a South Korean island near the maritime border in the West Sea, which claimed the lives of two marines and two civilians. Fifteen marines and three civilians were wounded.
The deadly attack has prompted massive four-day joint Korea-U.S. naval drills involving the USS aircraft carrier George Washington in the West Sea from Nov. 28.
Kim Young-sun, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, told reporters Thursday that Beijing informed Seoul Wednesday night that the Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi’s will reschedule his Seoul visit.
China’s foreign ministry was quoted as asking its South Korean counterpart not to misinterpret China’s motive over the schedule change.
“The two sides are planning to negotiate the timing of Minister Yang’s Seoul visit (in the near future),” Kim said.
Earlier, foreign ministers of South Korea and China had agreed to reciprocate their visits every other year from 2008.
Yang visited Seoul in that year and in return South Korea’s foreign minister paid a visit to China last year. This year, it was China’s turn to visit Seoul.
Earlier, China protested to any joint drills between South Korea and the United States in the West Sea, prompting the U.S. to put off deploying the USS George Washington to the seas close to China. But since the North’s deadly artillery attack, pressure has been mounting on China, a decades-long benefactor of North Korea. China has not issued any stance on the joint U.S. drill while the international community is allying to condemn the North and pressure China. Instead, in response, it has called for calm and peace on the Korean Peninsula.
In a telephone conversation Wednesday with President Lee Myung-bak, U.S. President Barack Obama pledged to urge China to stand firm on North Korea’s artillery attack. Then, the U.S. Department of State urged China to exert influence over North Korea to reduce tensions on the peninsula.
During his daily briefing Wednesday, Philip Crowley, assistant secretary of U.S. State Department, told reporters that “China is pivotal to moving North Korea in a fundamental different direction, which is, not just to state the obvious, that North Korea is a sovereign country and will do what it’s going to do, whatever it is.”
South Korea joined the effort to urge China to pressure North Korea.
Shin Kak-soo, first deputy minister of the foreign ministry, met with Chinese Ambassador to Korea Zhang Xinsen Wednesday afternoon to ask China to use its influence over the North.
The Chinese envoy was quoted as reiterating China’s position prioritizing the stability on the Korean Peninsula.
His remarks were made public after the Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement over the deadly attack Wednesday. In the statement, spokesman Hong Lei said, “China is paying close attention to the incident. We regret the casualties and property losses and are concerned about the situation.”
“We strongly urge both sides to remain calm and engage in talks as quickly as possible in order to prevent similar incidents from happening again.”