China emerges as fear factor

Seoul feeling heat from Beijing's retaliatory move against THAAD

By Yi Whan-woo

China appears to be taking some retaliatory moves against South Korea over the latter’s decision to allow the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system to counter North Korea’s missile and nuclear threats.

While Beijing has remained lukewarm about Pyongyang’s continued provocations, it is playing hard ball with Seoul, putting bilateral relations at risk.

China’s two-faced policy toward the two Koreas is becoming more evident.

On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) stopped short of adopting a formal statement against North Korea’s latest launch of two ballistic missiles apparently due to China’s opposition, according to sources Thursday. One of the two missiles flew over 1,000 kilometers to land in Japanese territorial waters.

Speculation is rampant that China, a veto-wielding UNSC member, will remain uncooperative in seeking measures against the North’s provocations to protest against the planned deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here.

The People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, claimed the U.S. missile system was intended to “destroy the security of Northeast Asia.”

Although it did not explicitly mention President Park Geun-hye, the newspaper said that “South Korea’s decision-maker offended national interests of neighboring countries by pursuing its well-being one-sidedly.”

It said the South Korean leader should “prudently handle THAAD-related issues in order to avoid pushing the country into the worst circumstances.”

Warning against a possible military conflict between the U.S and China, the newspaper said Seoul will be the “first target” if such a conflict occurs.

A senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul expressed regret over the report, saying “It should focus on sending warning messages to Pyongyang instead.”

Beijing is also making it more difficult for South Korean business people to enter China.

On Wednesday, Chinese authorities stripped its travel agencies of the right to issue invitation letters to South Korean entrepreneurs, which helps them get the appropriate visa.

Beijing had authorized selected travel agencies to issue invitation letters that are needed to apply for an F-visa. This visa allows people to freely enter China for up to one year from the issuing date.

China is South Korea’s largest trading partner, with many South Koreans running businesses there.

Beijing repeatedly has claimed that THAAD’s radar can be used to spy on its military activities, despite Washington’s assurances that it only aims to deter Pyongyang’s missile attacks.

Source said China and Russia, which also opposes the deployment, may have expressed reservations about adopting a statement against North Korea during the UNSC’s emergency meeting in New York.

The council convened the meeting of its 15 members following a request from South Korea, the U.S. and China after North Korea launched the two mid-range Rodong ballistic missiles.

One exploded in the air but the other landed inside Japan’s economic exclusive zone (EEZ), according to the South Korean Chiefs of Staff.

This was the first time a North Korean missile has entered the Japanese EEZ.

South Korea, the U.S., Japan, the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) each issued a statement condemning North Korea.

Oh Joon, South Korea’s ambassador to the U.N. also denounced the Kim Jong-un regime for its breach of UNSC sanctions in a joint press conference with two of his U.N. counterparts — Samantha Power of the U.S. and Koro Bessho of Japan.

Refraining from criticizing North Korea, the Chinese government instead said “all related parties should refrain from heightening tension in the region and provoking each other.”

South Korean analysts warned that China may continue to refuse rendering support for international action against North Korea in the future.

They cited that the UNSC failed to adopt a statement in response to Pyongyang’s firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) on July 9 and also three ballistic missiles — presumably two Rodongs and one Scud — on July 22.

“It is fully predictable that China will behave perversely and that international cooperation on North Korea will go adrift,” said Kim Yeol-su, an international politics professor at Sungshin Women’s University. “I believe China was behind a series of UNSC’s failures to pass statements recently.”

An Chan-il, head of the World Institute for North Korea Studies, agreed.

“China is a key for the UNSC to unite and I don’t think it will be able to work effectively under the current circumstances,” he said.

He also said Washington’s independent sanctions on Pyongyang may be “more reliable than the UNSC sanctions” for the time being.