Foreign Minister emphasizes North Korea coordination in China relationship

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul at his inaguration at the government complex in Seoul on Friday. [YONHAP]

The new South Korean Foreign Minister, Cho Tae-yul, emphasized the importance of taking small steps to improve the estranged relationship with China.

Cho specifically highlighted the need for coordination with China on North Korea-related issues to move forward.

“We have our own standards that we maintain on various issues, including the North Korean nuclear problem,” Cho said on Friday at a press conference held after his inauguration. “If our positions are not coordinated [with China] on those issues, it is difficult to resolve conflicts.”

Concerns have recently been raised by both the South Korean and U.S. governments about China and Russia, which are both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, potentially enabling North Korea to evade the U.N. sanctions in developing nuclear arsenals and missiles.

U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel while criticizing Russia on Thursday for “flagrantly violating multiple UN Security Council resolutions” in its arms exchange with North Korea, called on China to take greater responsibility.

“We’ve long said that countries that have a relationship with the DPRK, or including even Russia in that matter, have a responsibility to help curtail this kind of provocative, harmful activity,” Patel said referring North Korea by its official name, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The South Korean foreign minister acknowledged that the relationship between South Korea and China may have become “uncomfortable” due to the intensified alliance solidarity with the U.S. and Japan.

Cho said that South Korea’s survival strategy, in the changing geopolitical landscape, involves the enhancement of the country’s own strength and forming an international solidarity based on alliance.

“In the past several years, the mutual sentiment and perception between the two countries [South Korea and China] have significantly deteriorated,” Cho said. “The bigger problem is, it seems there’s little room for improvement.”

However, the South Korean foreign minister said that there is still room for cooperation between the two countries, emphasizing the need to lower expectations and start with small steps.

The South Korean foreign minister said that it seems North Korea is attempting to undermine trust between South Korea, the U.S., and Japan by raising its rhetoric.

He noted that North Korea appears anxious about the expanding deterrence between the three nations.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who labeled South Korea as a hostile country late last year, escalated his rhetoric on Thursday by designating South Korea as its main enemy for the first time.
Kim further said that he has no intention of avoiding a war and that he will use all means to annihilate South Korea if the South threatens its sovereignty and security.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken and the new South Korean Foreign Minister, Cho, have agreed to continue working together on the “complex and evolving” security challenges in the region, including not only North Korea but also the Taiwanese Strait and the South China Sea.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]