By Jun Ji-hye
China appears to be still pressuring South Korea to take more practical steps to resolve a dispute involving the deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system here, even after the two governments struck an agreement last month to end the diplomatic row over it.
The Seoul government said that bilateral conflict over the placement of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery was settled following the Oct. 31 agreement and that the two nations would work to restore their relations in all sectors.
However, subtle differences in the positions of the two governments could act as a variable in determining whether the two nations will be able to actually normalize their strained relations as agreed during the Nov. 12 summit between President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Vietnam on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
The issue could also be an important topic during the next Moon-Xi summit, scheduled for mid-December in Beijing, which was expected to speed up the normalization of Seoul-Beijing ties.
During the meeting between the top diplomats of the two nations, Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his South Korean counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha, that China "valued" Seoul's stance of not deploying any additional THAAD batteries, not joining a broader U.S. missile defense (MD) system and not forming a South Korea-U.S.-Japan military alliance, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.
China has described South Korea's stance, dubbed "three nos," as promises, while Seoul said it was just expression of the government position.
After the meeting between Wang and Kang, the Chinese foreign ministry said it is hoping South Korea "will continue to properly handle the THAAD issue," saying Beijing values Seoul's "attitude of having no intention of harming China's security interests."
"Both sides should work together to further enhance mutual understanding and minimize differences to the utmost extent so as to create conditions for the full recovery of bilateral relations," the ministry said.
The comments were construed as Beijing calling on Seoul to take additional, practical steps to remove China's concerns over the THAAD deployment in order to fully recover relations, despite the Oct. 31 agreement.
For more than a year, China has claimed the THAAD radar could be used to spy on its military facilities and harm its security interests, taking economic and cultural retaliation against South Korea. Seoul and Washington claim the system is designed only to defend against incoming ballistic missiles from North Korea.
China's state-run newspaper Global Times reported Thursday that Beijing's opposition to THAAD has been consistent, stressing that the issue is not yet over.
Some vernacular media outlets here also reported that China has requested South Korea set up a shield against the THAAD radar.
Seoul's foreign ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk denied the reports, saying, "They are groundless."
Regarding another report that China has officially asked South Korea to open military talks at an early date to discuss deployment, defense ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said the government has "no plan to hold such talks."
China appears to be still pressuring South Korea to take more practical steps to resolve a dispute involving the deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system here, even after the two governments struck an agreement last month to end the diplomatic row over it.
The Seoul government said that bilateral conflict over the placement of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery was settled following the Oct. 31 agreement and that the two nations would work to restore their relations in all sectors.
However, subtle differences in the positions of the two governments could act as a variable in determining whether the two nations will be able to actually normalize their strained relations as agreed during the Nov. 12 summit between President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Vietnam on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
The issue could also be an important topic during the next Moon-Xi summit, scheduled for mid-December in Beijing, which was expected to speed up the normalization of Seoul-Beijing ties.
During the meeting between the top diplomats of the two nations, Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his South Korean counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha, that China "valued" Seoul's stance of not deploying any additional THAAD batteries, not joining a broader U.S. missile defense (MD) system and not forming a South Korea-U.S.-Japan military alliance, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.
China has described South Korea's stance, dubbed "three nos," as promises, while Seoul said it was just expression of the government position.
After the meeting between Wang and Kang, the Chinese foreign ministry said it is hoping South Korea "will continue to properly handle the THAAD issue," saying Beijing values Seoul's "attitude of having no intention of harming China's security interests."
"Both sides should work together to further enhance mutual understanding and minimize differences to the utmost extent so as to create conditions for the full recovery of bilateral relations," the ministry said.
The comments were construed as Beijing calling on Seoul to take additional, practical steps to remove China's concerns over the THAAD deployment in order to fully recover relations, despite the Oct. 31 agreement.
For more than a year, China has claimed the THAAD radar could be used to spy on its military facilities and harm its security interests, taking economic and cultural retaliation against South Korea. Seoul and Washington claim the system is designed only to defend against incoming ballistic missiles from North Korea.
China's state-run newspaper Global Times reported Thursday that Beijing's opposition to THAAD has been consistent, stressing that the issue is not yet over.
Some vernacular media outlets here also reported that China has requested South Korea set up a shield against the THAAD radar.
Seoul's foreign ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk denied the reports, saying, "They are groundless."
Regarding another report that China has officially asked South Korea to open military talks at an early date to discuss deployment, defense ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said the government has "no plan to hold such talks."
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