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| President Yoon Suk-yeol shakes hands with Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, during the latter's visit to the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Friday. Joint Press Corps |
China's top legislator stresses 'mutual respect' in 'sensitive matters' with S. Korea
By Nam Hyun-woo
President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to South Korea during his meeting with Li Zhanshu, China's third-most-powerful official and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, in what appears to be a tug-of-war between the two countries' leaders over who will visit whom first.
According to the presidential office, Yoon had a meeting with Li, who arrived in Seoul on Thursday for a three-day visit, and told the chairman that "President Xi's visit (to South Korea) will be a cornerstone for the next 30 years of South Korea-China relations."
Li responded that he would pass on the invitation to Xi, but added he expects "President Yoon to visit China at his time of convenience."
This is not the first time that Yoon has invited Xi to Seoul. In May, when Yoon began his term as president, Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan passed on Xi's invitation to Yoon to visit China, and Yoon also said he expected Xi to visit Seoul. In August, South Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin visited China and delivered Yoon's invitation to Xi to visit Seoul.
At the time, it was seen as a diplomatic discourtesy in South Korea, because Yoon's predecessor Moon Jae-in had visited China twice while Xi has never paid a visit to Seoul since 2014. Last December, Suh Hoon, national security adviser for former President Moon, and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi also said it was time for Xi to pay a visit to South Korea.
During Friday's meeting, Yoon and Li also discussed the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, to which China has been expressing its opposition.
Yoon told Li that the two countries should communicate closely to avoid the matter of THAAD becoming a setback in bilateral relations. Li also acknowledged the necessity for close communication on "sensitive matters," according to the presidential office.
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| Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, left, speaks during a joint press conference with South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo after their meeting in Seoul, Friday. Joint Press Corps |
Before meeting Yoon, Li said in a press conference that the spirit of "mutual respect" is important in addressing "sensitive matters" with South Korea, referring to Seoul's recent move to normalize the THAAD system.
During the conference after meeting Seoul's National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, Li said he and Kim "shared their thoughts that the two sides should address sensitive problems based on the spirit of respecting each other's key major interests" for the sake of productive and healthy bilateral relations.
Ever since South Korea deployed the missile defense system in 2017, China has been expressing its opposition, more recently urging Seoul to uphold the so-called "Three Nos" policy, which refers to no additional THAAD deployments, no South Korean integration into a U.S.-led regional missile defense system and no trilateral alliance with the U.S. and Japan.
The mutual respect Li was referring to has been widely acknowledged as China's expression that the THAAD battery hurts Beijing's interests, thus Seoul should show respect on this.
"The terminology has widely been using in cordial remarks between the two countries' leaders and ranking diplomats, but the two countries have been using it for different purposes," said Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University. "While China wants to be respected on its claim, South Korea is using the term of mutual respect, asking China to accept that South Korea needs THAAD to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats."
During his meeting with Speaker Kim, Li also said that "President Xi Jinping has evaluated that China-South Korea relations were able to make their achievements because they have maintained the values of mutual respect, mutual trust and reciprocal magnanimity."
The concept of mutual respect has been the keyword in Seoul and Beijing's recent diplomatic overtures, as South Korea's Yoon Suk-yeol administration is putting greater emphasis on expanding its ties with the United States, triggering concerns that this may sour South Korea's relations with China, its largest trading partner.
As a tactic to address this dilemma, South Korea has been stressing the value of mutual trust. Foreign Minister Park Jin, during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi last month, stressed that the two sides can have healthy relations even though there may be differences in their values and socio-political systems.
During Li's meeting with speaker Kim, they recognized the progress in bilateral relations over the past three decades and discussed how they should develop them further in the future.
Meanwhile, speaker Kim said he proposed a trilateral meeting between the parliamentary heads of South Korea, China and Japan, as a way to strengthen exchanges between high-ranking officials of the countries.
"Chairman Li and I have shared the recognition that the two countries' legislative bodies should make contributions to the peace and stability of Northeast Asia amid the flexible geopolitical circumstances," Kim said. "Li responded that he will seriously consider the proposal, and I will soon communicate this with Japan in an appropriate manner."
Li also said in the press announcement that the two sides recognized that the peace and safety of the Korean Peninsula should be protected through conversations and negotiations, and "the establishment of a peace scheme on the peninsula serves each country's common interests."
Also on Friday, Li paid a visit to LG Science Park in southwestern Seoul's Gangseo District, which accommodates the R&D departments of LG Group's eight major affiliates including LG Energy Solution, the world's No. 2 EV battery maker in terms of sales.
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