Xi invites Moon to Beijing
President raises history issue in phone talks with Abe
Chinese President Xi Jinping
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
By Kim Rahn
Chinese President Xi Jinping suggested holding an early summit in Beijing to South Korea’s new President Moon Jae-in, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday.
The heads of the two countries had a 40-minute phone conversation to discuss various issues in Northeast Asia, including North Korea’s nuclear program and the installation of a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea.
This was the first time for a Chinese president to give a congratulatory call to a newly-elected South Korean president, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
The previous day, U.S. President Donald Trump also called Moon and proposed holding a summit. It is yet to be seen which of the two countries Moon will visit first ― almost all his predecessors visited the U.S.
Moon and Xi agreed that denuclearization of North Korea was a common goal for the two countries, which requires efforts by all nations involved.
“The North’s nuclear issue should be addressed comprehensively and gradually, and we should employ both pressure and sanctions and negotiations,” Moon said. “The ultimate purpose of the sanctions is also to bring the North to the table for negotiations.”
South Korea and China have been estranged in recent months over the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here as a deterrent against North Korea’s ballistic missile attacks.
Concerned that the system’s radar could be used to spy on Chinese military activities, Beijing has opposed its installation and taken economic retaliatory measures against Seoul.
Saying he understands China’s concerns, Moon told Xi that the two countries should discuss the issue soon. “No more provocations by the North will make it easy to resolve the THAAD issue,” he said.
For the summit, the two heads decided to exchange delegations as soon as possible. Korea will also send a separate delegation to China to discuss THAAD and the North Korea nuclear issue.
Earlier during the presidential campaign, Moon pledged that he would not push ahead with THAAD deployment but seek a public consensus and National Assembly approval. In a message to the people after his swearing-in ceremony Wednesday, he also said he would seriously discuss the THAAD issue with China and the U.S.
Japan ties may get worse
Moon also talked with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the phone. The relationship between the two countries has also been strained over Japan’s wartime sexual slavery of Korean women.
Under the former President Park Geun-hye administration, the two nations reached a verbal agreement to resolve the issue “finally and irreversibly” in exchange for Japan providing 1 billion yen to help the Korean victims. But many in South Korea opposed the deal for failing to reflect the opinion of the victims, while Japan insisted South Korea carry out the agreement. Japan especially demanded the removal of two statues of girl, a symbol of the sex slaves, placed in front of its embassy in Seoul and consulate in Busan, claiming they were in violation of the agreement.
According to Cheong Wa Dae, Abe expressed hope that Korea would carry out the deal for a future-oriented relationship between the two nations.
Moon, however, said most South Korean people do not accept the deal and some parts of the issue ― referring to the girl statues ― involve the private sector, which limits any government action.
“I hope the two nations can work together to overcome the problems and conflicts of past history, including the sexual slavery issue, to improve the relationship,” Moon said, adding Japanese leaders should inherit and respect the statements made by their predecessors, including the Kono Statement that acknowledged Japan’s military forced women into sexual slavery.
“But I will say one thing for sure: Past history issues should not drag on the two countries’ future-oriented development,” Moon said. “Separate from this, we should make joint efforts to deal with the North Korea nuclear issue.”
In another phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Moon expressed gratitude for Modi’s congratulatory tweet written in the Korean language posted the previous night. He also said the two countries need to improve their comprehensive economic partnership agreement to expand trade and investment as well as strengthen cultural exchanges.