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South Korea’s New President Moves to Soothe Tensions With China
By CHOE SANG-HUNMAY 11, 2017
SEOUL, South Korea — Moon Jae-in, the newly elected leader of South Korea, moved swiftly to mend ties with China on Thursday, announcing plans to dispatch a delegation to Beijing to resolve a festering dispute over the deployment of an American missile-defense system in his country.
Easing tensions over the antimissile system was a crucial topic when President Xi Jinping of China called Mr. Moon on Thursday to congratulate him on his election as president two days before.
During the campaign, Mr. Moon had criticized the antimissile system, known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad, which China sees as a threat to its security. In the call, Mr. Xi asked Mr. Moon to visit Beijing, Mr. Moon’s office said.
Mr. Moon’s predecessor, Park Geun-hye, who was impeached and ousted as president, had agreed to the deployment of Thaad, saying that it was needed to protect South Korea against a growing ballistic-missile threat from North Korea. But the Thaad system has led to a deep schism in relations between Beijing and Seoul, and has prompted widespread boycotts in China of popular South Korean brands.
“I am well aware of the concern and fear of the Chinese about the Thaad deployment,” Mr. Moon was quoted as saying when Mr. Xi explained the Chinese stance on the matter. “I hope both countries can understand each other better on this and will soon open a channel of communication.”
During the 40-minute conversation, Mr. Moon revealed his plans to send separate delegations to Beijing to discuss the Thaad dispute and North Korea’s nuclear threat.
Thaad is one of the thorniest diplomatic issues the new South Korean leader faces.
On Thursday, Mr. Moon asked Mr. Xi to help end the Chinese boycott of South Korean goods.
“It will be easier to resolve the Thaad issue when North Korea doesn’t do any more provocations,” Mr. Moon said, according to Yoon Young-chan, his spokesman. Mr. Moon has indicted that if China wants to have Thaad removed from South Korea, it should play a more active role in reining in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
Many of Mr. Moon’s liberal supporters opposed the Thaad deployment, accusing Washington of foisting a weapons system on South Korea that they say is part of a broader American strategy of containing China with an antimissile shield. President Trump angered them further recently by demanding that South Korea pay $1 billion for the system.
But if Mr. Moon asks the United States to withdraw the defense shield, which became operational last week, he would risk rupturing South Korea’s close alliance with the United States and would also look as if he were succumbing to Chinese pressure.
Mr. Moon has already faced accusations from the country’s conservatives that his emphasis on dialogue with North Korea would strain ties with Washington.
On Thursday, Mr. Moon and Mr. Xi addressed their similar approaches to ending North Korea’s nuclear crisis.
Mr. Moon called for dialogue with North Korea, emphasizing that the goal of sanctions must be to bring the country back to the negotiating table. Mr. Xi agreed, according to Mr. Moon’s office. The state-run Chinese news media also reported that Mr. Xi said the nuclear issue should be resolved through talks.
“I have never met you, but I have been watching you with great interest,” Mr. Xi was quoted as saying to Mr. Moon, according to the South Korean leader’s office. “I have been greatly impressed by your unusual personal background, thoughts and viewpoints.”
Mr. Moon, a former student activist and human rights lawyer, served in the government of Roh Moo-hyun, the South Korean president from 2003 to 2008, who promoted dialogue and economic exchanges with North Korea.
Mr. Moon’s election signaled the return of the liberals to the center stage of South Korean diplomacy. They say that the American policy of relying on sanctions and pressure has failed to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programs. In his inaugural speech as president on Wednesday, Mr. Moon said he was even willing to meet the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, if the circumstances were right.
South Korean liberals also believe that their country’s diplomacy has been too tilted toward Washington, and that South Korea should not be dragged into a hegemonic struggle between the United States and China.
But during a telephone call with Mr. Trump, Mr. Moon pledged to strengthen his country’s alliance with Washington, calling it “the foundation of our diplomacy and national security.”
Mr. Moon’s comments appeared aimed at easing fears that his new liberal government — and its eagerness for diplomatic and economic engagement with North Korea — might create a rift with the United States.
Also on Thursday, Mr. Moon held a 25-minute phone conversation with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan. The two leaders agreed to hold a summit meeting soon, both sides said.
Mr. Abe called on South Korea to uphold a December 2015 agreement in which the two countries announced what they called at the time a “final and irreversible” settlement on the issue of “comfort women” — a euphemism for Koreans forced into sexual slavery for Japan’s World War II army.
In the deal, Japan expressed responsibility and extended a new apology to the women, promising an $8.3 million fund to help provide old-age care. But some of the women have since rejected the deal, saying it failed to specify Japan’s “legal” responsibility or to provide official reparations.
The deal also proved deeply unpopular among South Koreans, and during the presidential campaign, all of the candidates, including Mr. Moon, said they opposed it.
“The reality is that most of our people emotionally cannot accept the deal,” Mr. Moon was quoted as saying by his office. But he stopped short of saying he wanted to scrap the agreement.
His office said Mr. Moon also emphasized that disputes rooted in history — Japan ruled Korea as a colony in the early 20th century — should not prevent the countries from developing ties and working together against the North Korean nuclear threats.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/world/asia/china-south-korea-moon-jae-in.html?_r=0
By CHOE SANG-HUNMAY 11, 2017
SEOUL, South Korea — Moon Jae-in, the newly elected leader of South Korea, moved swiftly to mend ties with China on Thursday, announcing plans to dispatch a delegation to Beijing to resolve a festering dispute over the deployment of an American missile-defense system in his country.
Easing tensions over the antimissile system was a crucial topic when President Xi Jinping of China called Mr. Moon on Thursday to congratulate him on his election as president two days before.
During the campaign, Mr. Moon had criticized the antimissile system, known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad, which China sees as a threat to its security. In the call, Mr. Xi asked Mr. Moon to visit Beijing, Mr. Moon’s office said.
Mr. Moon’s predecessor, Park Geun-hye, who was impeached and ousted as president, had agreed to the deployment of Thaad, saying that it was needed to protect South Korea against a growing ballistic-missile threat from North Korea. But the Thaad system has led to a deep schism in relations between Beijing and Seoul, and has prompted widespread boycotts in China of popular South Korean brands.
“I am well aware of the concern and fear of the Chinese about the Thaad deployment,” Mr. Moon was quoted as saying when Mr. Xi explained the Chinese stance on the matter. “I hope both countries can understand each other better on this and will soon open a channel of communication.”
During the 40-minute conversation, Mr. Moon revealed his plans to send separate delegations to Beijing to discuss the Thaad dispute and North Korea’s nuclear threat.
Thaad is one of the thorniest diplomatic issues the new South Korean leader faces.
On Thursday, Mr. Moon asked Mr. Xi to help end the Chinese boycott of South Korean goods.
“It will be easier to resolve the Thaad issue when North Korea doesn’t do any more provocations,” Mr. Moon said, according to Yoon Young-chan, his spokesman. Mr. Moon has indicted that if China wants to have Thaad removed from South Korea, it should play a more active role in reining in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
Many of Mr. Moon’s liberal supporters opposed the Thaad deployment, accusing Washington of foisting a weapons system on South Korea that they say is part of a broader American strategy of containing China with an antimissile shield. President Trump angered them further recently by demanding that South Korea pay $1 billion for the system.
But if Mr. Moon asks the United States to withdraw the defense shield, which became operational last week, he would risk rupturing South Korea’s close alliance with the United States and would also look as if he were succumbing to Chinese pressure.
Mr. Moon has already faced accusations from the country’s conservatives that his emphasis on dialogue with North Korea would strain ties with Washington.
On Thursday, Mr. Moon and Mr. Xi addressed their similar approaches to ending North Korea’s nuclear crisis.
Mr. Moon called for dialogue with North Korea, emphasizing that the goal of sanctions must be to bring the country back to the negotiating table. Mr. Xi agreed, according to Mr. Moon’s office. The state-run Chinese news media also reported that Mr. Xi said the nuclear issue should be resolved through talks.
“I have never met you, but I have been watching you with great interest,” Mr. Xi was quoted as saying to Mr. Moon, according to the South Korean leader’s office. “I have been greatly impressed by your unusual personal background, thoughts and viewpoints.”
Mr. Moon, a former student activist and human rights lawyer, served in the government of Roh Moo-hyun, the South Korean president from 2003 to 2008, who promoted dialogue and economic exchanges with North Korea.
Mr. Moon’s election signaled the return of the liberals to the center stage of South Korean diplomacy. They say that the American policy of relying on sanctions and pressure has failed to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programs. In his inaugural speech as president on Wednesday, Mr. Moon said he was even willing to meet the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, if the circumstances were right.
South Korean liberals also believe that their country’s diplomacy has been too tilted toward Washington, and that South Korea should not be dragged into a hegemonic struggle between the United States and China.
But during a telephone call with Mr. Trump, Mr. Moon pledged to strengthen his country’s alliance with Washington, calling it “the foundation of our diplomacy and national security.”
Mr. Moon’s comments appeared aimed at easing fears that his new liberal government — and its eagerness for diplomatic and economic engagement with North Korea — might create a rift with the United States.
Also on Thursday, Mr. Moon held a 25-minute phone conversation with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan. The two leaders agreed to hold a summit meeting soon, both sides said.
Mr. Abe called on South Korea to uphold a December 2015 agreement in which the two countries announced what they called at the time a “final and irreversible” settlement on the issue of “comfort women” — a euphemism for Koreans forced into sexual slavery for Japan’s World War II army.
In the deal, Japan expressed responsibility and extended a new apology to the women, promising an $8.3 million fund to help provide old-age care. But some of the women have since rejected the deal, saying it failed to specify Japan’s “legal” responsibility or to provide official reparations.
The deal also proved deeply unpopular among South Koreans, and during the presidential campaign, all of the candidates, including Mr. Moon, said they opposed it.
“The reality is that most of our people emotionally cannot accept the deal,” Mr. Moon was quoted as saying by his office. But he stopped short of saying he wanted to scrap the agreement.
His office said Mr. Moon also emphasized that disputes rooted in history — Japan ruled Korea as a colony in the early 20th century — should not prevent the countries from developing ties and working together against the North Korean nuclear threats.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/world/asia/china-south-korea-moon-jae-in.html?_r=0
in Korea. Only this time, the foot of was the other side!
