South Korea, China to hold strategic defense dialogue after five years of suspension

Vice Defense Minister Park Jae-min, center, holds hands with his counterparts from Central Asian countries who participated in a session of the Cyber Working Group, Sept. 4, as part of the three-day Seoul Defense Dialogue 2019 held from Sept. 4 to 6 at Lotte Hotel Seoul. Yonhap

By Jung Da-min

South Korea and China are set to hold an annual vice-ministerial-level meeting which had been suspended for the past five years over disagreements surrounding Seoul allowing the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. It comes two years after the THAAD deployment was completed in 2017, despite China's strong opposition.

The 5th Strategic Defense Dialogue will be held in Beijing, Monday, between Vice Defense Minister Park Jae-min and his Chinese counterpart Lt. Gen. Shao Yuanming, deputy chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission of China's People's Liberation Army, according to the Ministry of National Defense, Sunday.

Commencing in 2011, the strategic defense talks had been held alternately in Seoul and Beijing, with the fourth meeting taking place in Beijing in July 2014.

The ministry said the two sides will have “in-depth discussions on major interests of the two countries as well as the situation on the Korean Peninsula” at their meeting.

Also likely to be on the agenda are the issue of the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) and setting up additional military hotlines between the two countries. On July 23, two Chinese bombers, along with two other Russian ones, entered the KADIZ near Jeju Island and again near Dokdo, while China and Russia were conducting a joint exercise.

South Korea and China have been operating a bilateral military hotline through a joint Master Control and Reporting Center (MCRC) since 2015 that covers northern China. Seoul proposed to establish a second MCRC to cover east China during working-level talks between air forces of the two countries held in April.

The government is also discussing the establishment of a military hotline with Russia, with the two countries first agreeing on such a plan in November 2004.

The defense meeting between South Korea and China comes while Park is visiting Beijing from Sunday to Tuesday to attend The 9th Beijing Xiangshan Forum held from Sunday to Tuesday. Park is also going to pay a courtesy call on China's Defense Minister Wei Fenghe during the trip, the ministry added.

The Beijing Xiangshan Forum is a China-led international security consultative group inaugurated in 2006 comprised of civilian experts. It was expanded to involve high-level defense officials from each country in 2014. Park will give a speech about the government's efforts to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula and call for support for its denuclearization, the ministry said.

About 500 defense officials and civilian security experts from 68 countries around the world and seven international organizations will attend the forum.

Among the participants will be North Korea's Vice Minister pf the People's Armed Forces Col. Gen. Kim Hyong-ryong, drawing speculation for a possible inter-Korean meeting.

North Korean Vice Minister of the People's Armed Forces Col. General Kim Hyong-ryong, speaks during The 8th Beijing Xiangshan Forum, a gathering of the region's security officials, in Beijing, Oct. 25, 2018. AP-Yonhap