By Jun Ji-hye
The government should open dialogue with China at various levels as a first step to resolve an escalating conflict over South Korea’s plan to deploy a U.S. anti-missile system here, analysts said Friday.
The suggestion comes amid growing expectations that Beijing’s economic and cultural retaliations against Seoul will intensify further especially after Lotte Group signed a land swap deal with the Ministry of National Defense, Feb. 28, to provide the government with a site for hosting the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery.
China has already begun various retaliatory actions including halting Lotte’s theme park construction in Shenyang as well as subjecting its Chinese affiliates to unusual tax audits and surprise fire safety inspections.
Besides Lotte, concerns are growing that other South Korean companies such as Samsung and Hyundai could also become the target of China’s retaliation.
Sejong University Prof. Lee Moon-ki said China’s actions are becoming more and more explicit, and it could be very difficult for the two sides to resolve the escalating conflict.
“The government needs to make efforts to expand dialogue,” he said. “If it is hard to hold government-to-government talks, diplomacy by lawmakers as well as semi-official talks needs to be utilized.”
As part of those efforts, the government will bring the issue up at the Seoul and Beijing high-level talks and the free trade agreement (FTA) working-level negotiations, which are scheduled for sometime in March and April, according to the ruling Liberty Korea Party (LKP) spokesman Rep. Kim Myung-yeon.
“THAAD deployment is just a self-defense measure not aimed at any countries apart from North Korea,” Kim said after a meeting between officials from the government and the LKP. “South Korea will stress that China’s actions using trade matters are just unreasonable.”
During the meeting, acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn stressed that the THAAD battery is a vital defense measure to meet national security needs, making it clear once again that Seoul will push forward with the installation as planned despite objections raised by Beijing.
He then vowed to “prepare necessary countermeasures at the appropriate time,” referring to China’s actions.
“As we have secured a site for THAAD, the government will continue to consult with the United States in order for the remaining procedures, including the evaluation of the battery’s environmental impact, to go forward as planned,” Hwang said. “We will also continue to keep watching actions taken by China, while expanding communication with Beijing, as its protests against the deployment are expected to escalate when this comes to fruition. We will come up with necessary measures at an appropriate time.”
Beijing is strongly opposed to the deployment, claiming that the system could hurt its strategic security interests, although Seoul and Washington have said the battery is designed only to defend against North Korean missiles.
But Hwang’s remarks failed to remove mounting criticism here against the administration for its passive and lukewarm attitude in coping with potential massive economic damage facing South Korean companies.
Critics say the government is just repeating a basic and theoretical stance, rather than actually taking any practical measures.
Rep. Koh Yong-jin, the spokesman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, said the government has virtually given up in dealing with the issue, and the only thing it is doing is complaining to the Chinese Embassy in Seoul.
“It is deplorable that the government, which said there would be no retaliation from China, appears not to be brave enough to present proper countermeasures,” he said. “Hwang said the government will take measures at the appropriate time, but I want to ask when this will be.”
Rep. Choung Byoung-gug, the head of the minor conservative Bareun Party, also said, “Hwang is hesitating to take any actions while gauging whether or not China is angry.”
The U.S. State Department also expressed concerns.
“We are concerned and closely monitoring reports that China has taken actions against South Korean private sector entities for the U.S.-ROK decision to deploy THAAD in the ROK,” a department spokesman told Yonhap News Agency.
“As THAAD is a prudent and limited self-defense measure designed to respond to a clear, reckless and unlawful North Korean military threat, criticism or pressure on the ROK to abandon its self-defense would be unreasonable and inappropriate.”