China urges removal of obstacles to good relations with South Korea
Print Edition
CHINA yesterday urged South Korea’s new government to remove “obstacles” to good relations amid Chinese anger at the US deployment of an anti-missile system on the Korean Peninsula.
Greeting South Korea’s presidential envoy Lee Hae-chan in Beijing, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said relations had made immense progress over the years.
“But this year we’ve had some undeserved setbacks,” he said, likely in a veiled reference to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system that became operational in South Korea earlier this month.
“We hope the new government will correct the problems that we have encountered and take effective measures and positions as soon as possible to remove the obstacles that have been placed on the road to good relations between our two countries,” he said.
South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in sent Lee to Beijing in the wake of his election victory last week.
Ties between Seoul and Beijing soured before Moon’s election over the deployment of THAAD, which the US says is aimed at guarding against threats from North Korea but which China sees as a threat to regional security.
Last week, Moon and President Xi Jinping both agreed that denuclearizing North Korea was a “common goal,” Moon’s spokesman said.
Lee said Moon asked him “to express his thanks to President Xi for his message of congratulations after our election. He also asked me to come and engage in deep dialogue.”
Moon’s spokesman Yoon Young said last week that the special delegation to Beijing would “exclusively discuss the THAAD and North Korea’s nuclear issues.”
Moon, who took office on Wednesday, favors engagement with North Korea to bring it to the negotiating table over its nuclear and missile ambitions.
He has previously expressed ambivalence over THAAD and told Xi last week he was “well aware” of China’s concerns, calling for talks to “increase understanding over the issue.”
The United Nations Security Council met behind closed doors on Tuesday to discuss tougher sanctions on North Korea.
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said the United States was working with China on a new sanctions resolution and warned that all countries must step up action against North Korea or face measures themselves.
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