Seoul, Beijing collide over THAAD

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, left, greets Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi before their talks on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Saturday. / Courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

By Yi Whan-woo

The foreign ministers of South Korea and China clashed again over Seoul’s plan to host a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here, during talks on the sidelines of the three-day 53rd Munich Security Conference, which ended in Germany, Sunday.

In a protest to his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Saturday, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se asked Beijing to drop its retaliatory measures against Seoul over the planned deployment this year despite China’s objection, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It said Yun expressed “strong concerns” over a widening ban and inspection of Korean imports and businesses in China and that Beijing should take action accordingly.

Wang denied Seoul’s claim that the Chinese government had been orchestrating the hostile measures against South Korea and also asked Seoul to “not hurry” in deploying THAAD.

The 45-minute meeting at the Marriott Hotel took place amid President Donald Trump’s pressure on China to step up its leverage on North Korea. It also came amid speculation about an early presidential election in South Korea and a possible change in government.

Against this back drop, South Korea and China took a slightly different approach from their previous dispute over THAAD.

This was the first time for Yun to officially protest about China’ s retaliation in addition to renewing Seoul’s argument that THAAD is exclusively to deter North Korea’s ballistic missile attacks.

Diplomatic sources speculated that China was seeking to slow the THAAD deployment and renegotiate the related issues with South Korea if an opposition candidate wins the presidential election.

Meanwhile, Yun and Wang discussed issues about North Korea. They included North Korea’s Feb. 12 launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile, China’s ban on imports of North Korean coal from Sunday in line with the U.N. Security Council’s sanctions against Pyongyang, and the murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s older half-brother Kim Jong-nam in Malaysia last week.

Later Saturday, Yun met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavorv, who also reiterated Moscow’s objections over the THAAD deployment.

But their meeting took place in “a friendlier atmosphere,” a source said.

“Yun and Wang did not even make eye contact _ they were stone-faced even when they shook hands before their talks.

“In contrast, Yun and Lavorv talked in a friendlier atmosphere about North Korea’s evolving ballistic missile program as well as cooperation between Seoul and Moscow through diplomatic and economic dialogue.”

Before the meeting with Wang, Yun delivered the opening speech during a Korean Peninsula session at the annual Munich Security Conference.

This was the first time the forum had arranged such a session.

Calling North Korea’s nuclear program a “ticking time bomb,” he asked the international community to step up its efforts to contain Pyongyang.

“North Korea is nearing the final stages of developing nuclear weapons,” he said. “In our analysis, the tipping point may be only a couple of years away.

“We are racing against time. If we do not reverse this process now, then this will become a game changer for all of us.

“It would be like living with Pyongyang’s nuclear sword of Damocles dangling precariously over our heads. No one is safe from it.”