Leave diplomacy in the domain of diplomacy

YOO JEE-HYE
The author is the head of the diplomatic and security news team at the JoongAng Ilbo.

Which of the following statements was made by a different politician?

1. You can just say, “Thank you!” to both China and Taiwan. Why do you keep poking around?

2. It is more important to pay attention to the Korean economy and the lives of the people than China’s human rights issues.

3. I think the Moon Jae-in administration’s position on not deploying additional Thaad missiles, not pursuing a military alliance with the United States and Japan, and not joining the U.S.-led missile defense system are proper. This is for the sake of economic cooperation with China.

4. There should be a strict crackdown on illegal fishing by North Korea and China in the East and West Seas. Ships illegitimately intruding into our territorial waters should be hit and sunk.

There is no correct answer. All four remarks were made by Lee Jae-myung, chairman of the majority Democratic Party. The first statement was made while he campaigned in Dangjin, South Chungcheong, last month ahead of the April 10 parliamentary election. The second remark was made in a JoongAng Ilbo interview in January 2022 shortly before the last presidential election. The third comment was made in a television debate in February of the same year, and the fourth one in a media interview that same month.

I am confused by his zigzagging view on China from “thank you” to “sink Chinese fishing boats.” Lee said, “I must say what should be said […] My standard is the nation’s interests.” But the problem is that his “national interest” from diplomacy with China seems to change according to the situation. Did he really mean to say that the country can tolerate China’s apparent retaliation for sinking its fishing boats in order to prevent damage to our fishermen? Did he also meant to say that we should avoid retaliation from China for the Thaad deployment at any cost?

We may need to listen to Lee’s “thank you” remarks given the need to enhance relations with China. Since taking office, President Yoon Suk Yeol has put his foreign policy priorities on the order of strengthening the Korea-U.S. alliance, restoring Korea-Japan relations, and upgrading the tripartite cooperation among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo. Regardless of whether his priorities are right or wrong, it is true that Yoon is relatively neglectful of diplomacy with China.

But Lee’s claim that Chinese people are not buying Korean products due to Yoon’s negligence of the relations is not true. According to the Korea Customs Service, trade balance with China already started falling to $23.68 billion in 2020 during the Moon Jae-in administration from $62.82 billion in 2013. So far this year, Korea’s exports to China have actually increased from the previous year.

Losses are inevitable the moment diplomacy is brought into domestic politics. China’s media is already exploiting Lee’s “thank you, China” remarks. It is better to leave diplomacy in the domain of diplomacy.

Although it was not talked about much, Lee also said, “Russia provides military technology to North Korea because the government is leaning toward Ukraine.” Is there any need for further explanation about this, too?