South Korea Asks China to Play ‘Constructive Role’ against North’s Threats

South Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin talks to China's Communist Party's foreign policy chief Wang Yi prior to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, 13 July 2023. (Reuters)
South Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin talks to China's Communist Party's foreign policy chief Wang Yi prior to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, 13 July 2023. (Reuters)
TT

South Korea Asks China to Play ‘Constructive Role’ against North’s Threats

South Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin talks to China's Communist Party's foreign policy chief Wang Yi prior to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, 13 July 2023. (Reuters)
South Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin talks to China's Communist Party's foreign policy chief Wang Yi prior to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, 13 July 2023. (Reuters)

South Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin on Friday called on China to play a "constructive role" in curbing North Korea's threats, after Pyongyang launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) this week.

The remarks were made during a meeting with Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Jakarta, where Park "strongly denounced" North Korea's ICBM launch.

It is a common interest of Seoul and Beijing for North Korea to stop provocations and return to dialogue, his office said.

"Minister Park ... stressed that it was more important than ever for the Chinese side to play a constructive role for the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula," Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement.

For several years, the United Nations Security Council has been divided over how to deal with Pyongyang.

China and Russia have said that more sanctions will not help to ease tensions, while Washington accuses Beijing and Moscow of emboldening North Korea by shielding it from more sanctions.

Relations between South Korea and China have also worsened since China's ambassador last month warned South Korea against making a wrong bet when it comes to Sino-US rivalry.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol had already angered China in April by saying the Taiwan issue was not merely an issue between China and democratically governed Taiwan, but a "global" issue similar to North Korea. Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory.

"The Taiwan issue is the core of China's core interests, and concerns the political foundation and basic faith of China-South Korea relations," Wang told Park at the ASEAN meetings, according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout on Saturday.

"It is hoped that the South Korean side will abide by the one-China principle and handle it prudently and properly."

China is willing to work with South Korea on rebuilding mutual trust and pushing their strategic partnership back to a healthy track, Wang said.

The two sides also exchanged views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and other international and regional issues, China's foreign ministry said, without giving details.



China Announces Joint Naval, Air Drills with Russia 

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese and Russian warships take part in a joint naval drills in the East China Sea, Dec. 27, 2022. (Xu Wei/Xinhua via AP, File)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese and Russian warships take part in a joint naval drills in the East China Sea, Dec. 27, 2022. (Xu Wei/Xinhua via AP, File)
TT

China Announces Joint Naval, Air Drills with Russia 

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese and Russian warships take part in a joint naval drills in the East China Sea, Dec. 27, 2022. (Xu Wei/Xinhua via AP, File)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese and Russian warships take part in a joint naval drills in the East China Sea, Dec. 27, 2022. (Xu Wei/Xinhua via AP, File)

China’s Defense Ministry on Monday announced joint naval and air drills with Russia starting this month, underscoring the closeness between their militaries as Russia presses its grinding invasion of Ukraine.

The ministry said the “Northern United-2024” exercises would take place in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk farther north, but gave no details.

It said the naval and air drills aimed to improve strategic cooperation between the two countries and “strengthen their ability to jointly deal with security threats.”

The notice also said the two navies would cruise together in the Pacific, the fifth time they have done so, and together take part in Russia’s “Great Ocean-24” exercise. No details were given.

China has refused to criticize Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now in its third year, and blamed the US and NATO for provoking President Vladimir Putin.

While China has not directly provided Russia with arms, it has become a crucial economic lifeline as a top customer for Russian oil and gas as well as a supplier of electronics and other items with both civilian and military uses.

Russia and China, along with other US critics such as Iran, have aligned their foreign policies to challenge Western-led liberal democratic order. With joint exercises, Russia has sought Chinese help in achieving its long-cherished aim of becoming a Pacific power, while Moscow has backed China's territorial claims in the South China Sea and elsewhere.

That has increasingly included the 180-kilometer (110-mile) wide Taiwan Strait that divides mainland China from the self-governing island democracy that Beijing considers its own territory and threatens to invade.

Based on that claim, the Taiwan Strait is Chinese. Though it is not opposed to navigation by others through one of the world's most heavily trafficked sea ways, China is “firmly opposed to provocations by countries that jeopardize China’s sovereignty and security under the banner of freedom of navigation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily briefing on Friday.

Mao was responding to a report that a pair of German navy ships were to pass through the strait this month for the first time in more than two decades. The US and virtually every other country, along with Taiwan, considers the strait international waters.