From left are U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and Defense Minister Suh Wook during a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul, Thursday, after holding a two-plus-two ministerial meeting. Joint Press Corps

Disagreement between Seoul, Washington exposed in 2+2 meeting

By Kang Seung-woo

The much-heralded two-plus-two ministerial meeting between South Korea and the United States, Thursday, highlighted that the long-time allies are not on the same page on several issues, including North Korea and China.

Foreign and Defense Ministers Chung Eui-yong and Suh Wook sat down with Secretaries of State and Defense Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for the first meeting of its kind in over four years. Blinken and Austin also had respective ministerial meetings, Wednesday, upon their arrival from Japan, where the secretaries also had a two-plus-two talks.

Since the arrangement of the first Cabinet-level overseas trip of the Joe Biden administration was made earlier this month, speculation has been rampant that the new American government is set to bolster its Asian alliances in the face of an assertive China. However, China is South Korea's largest-trading partner, so the Moon Jae-in administration has maintained "strategic ambiguity" to the U.S. call for Seoul's participation in its campaign to counter Beijing.

Starting a post-meeting press conference, the American secretaries stressed the need for its allies to stand together against China.

"We also discussed China. We are clear eyed about Beijing's consistent failure to uphold its commitments and we spoke about Beijing's aggressive authoritarian behavior are challenging stability, security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region," Blinken said in his opening speech.

"Beijing's actions make forging a common approach among allies all the more important."

Austin also said, "We have a lot to look forward to as, together, we address global security challenges and engage in long-term strategic competition, mainly with China, which, as some of you know, is our department's challenge in the years ahead."

The defense chief added: "Today we continue to work together to identify areas for collaboration within our respective regional strategies, particularly upholding a rules-based international order in building capacity for partners in the region."

During their respective ministerial talks, they also took a jab at China, with Blinken warning against its use of "coercion and aggression" on the international stage and Austin saying the country posing "unprecedented challenges."

However, the joint statement, issued after the two-plus-two meeting, failed to specify China's behavior, just saying that the alliance supports "the two countries' commitment to opposing all activities that undermine and destabilize the rules-based international order." It is raising speculation that South Korea may have had reservations about the U.S. bashing of China.