A joint statement issued after the U.S.-South Korea summit included the issue of Taiwan Strait, which was criticized by Chinese official media as “interference in internal affairs”. The government of the Republic of Korea, which has been acting as a sandwich between the United States and China, avoided mentioning China in its statement, but some experts pointed out that South Korea has actually moved closer to the United States.
The government of the Republic of Korea has been a biscuit between the U.S. and China, but some experts have pointed out that South Korea is actually closer to the United States. (Photo／Turned from 문재인 Facebook)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited the U.S. and had a three-hour meeting with President Joe Biden on the afternoon of the 21st, local time, after which his statement covered Taiwan issues. In the face of media inquiries about whether he is being pressured by the U.S. side on the Taiwan Strait issue, Moon clarified that he is not being pressured, but that both sides agree on the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and that the two Koreas and the U.S. will work more closely on this issue, considering the special nature of the two sides.
The Korean media compared the text of the joint statement with that of the U.S.-Japanese joint statement, pointing out that the text on the Taiwan Strait issue is almost identical, but compared to the U.S.-Japanese joint statement, which directly mentioned the impact of China’s actions on the Indo-Pacific region, the South Korean-U.S. joint statement did not directly mention China.
However, the statement touched on issues that still stirred China’s sensitive nerves. Yonhap News Agency quoted Chinese official media Global Network as reporting today that the South Korea-US joint statement specifically mentioned Taiwan and the South China Sea, criticizing the move as “interference in China’s internal affairs”; Phoenix and other Chinese media focused on the lifting of restrictions on South Korea’s missile development in the South Korea-US missile policy, as well as the South Korea-US diplomatic solution to the denuclearization of North Korea and other issues on the Korean Peninsula.
In order to acquire missile technology from the US in 1979, South Korea signed the Korea-US Missile Policy with the US, which imposes restrictions on the range and weight of missiles made by South Korea, and Moon Jae-in announced after the summit that the restrictions of this policy were completely lifted.
The Korean media, including Chosun Ilbo and Dong-A Ilbo, pointed out that the abolition of the policy not only represents South Korea’s complete return of missile autonomy and strengthening of national defense capabilities, but also means that South Korea will be able to manufacture missiles with a range of up to China, becoming a part of the U.S. side to contain China.
The Yonhap News Agency quoted the Washington Post shortly before the South Korea-U.S. summit as saying that Ramon Pacheco Pardo, an associate professor at King’s College London who is familiar with South Korean affairs, pointed out that the U.S., India, Japan, Australia The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), led by Biden, not only focuses on military security, but also includes issues of concern to South Korea such as vaccine development and supply, climate change, and emerging technology development.
In addition, from South Korea’s point of view, Biden’s friendly and stable attitude towards North Korea and defense cost sharing after taking office compared to former President Trump is an incentive for South Korea to cooperate.
Bacicopardo said, “South Korea’s concern for China is gradually decreasing,” although South Korea is held back by economic relations with China, but the SAD (THAAD, Terminal High Altitude Defense System) triggered economic retaliation and kimchi origin debate and other disagreements, South Korea’s perception of China has gradually deteriorated.
Bacicco Pardo pointed out that although South Korea may continue to refuse to join the quadrilateral security dialogue in official terms, the Biden administration is now focusing more on practical cooperation for countries like South Korea that are caught between the U.S. and China than on nominal membership. Biden also stressed after this meeting on this topic that the ROK-US alliance is not limited to the Korean Peninsula, but will continue to cooperate in dealing with other international issues as well.
In fact, a glimpse of the will to cooperate can be seen from the Korea-US business roundtable before the summit. Samsung, SK Hynix and other Korean companies announced that they will invest a total of $39.4 billion (about NT$1.1 trillion) in the U.S. DuPont also announced that it will set up a research and development center in South Korea, among other things, to further cooperate on future industries of mutual concern, such as semiconductors and electric vehicles.
White House spokeswoman Jen Paski was asked by the media after the meeting how the U.S. should cooperate with South Korea and Japan in this situation, given the close economic ties between the two countries. Paski replied that Biden’s top priority after taking office was to hold summits with Japan and South Korea to express the importance of the partnership between the two countries; the U.S. understands that there may be differences in the views of the U.S. and the U.S. on the U.S.-China relationship, but the most important thing is whether there is room for the two sides to conclude a partnership.
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