Seoul: China has urged South Korea not to allow its US-made missile defense shield to "obstruct" ties as the two sides face off again over the THAAD system.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks late on Thursday after meeting with his counterparts from South Korea and Nepal in Qingdao, Shandong, this week.
Security issues surrounding the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System, which South Korea installed in 2017, during Wang's meeting with the country's Foreign Minister Park Jin on Tuesday, called for Beijing and Seoul to strengthen their bilateral ties. endanger the efforts.
According to a Friday statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang told reporters that they had "extensive and in-depth exchange of views on the US deployment of Thad to South Korea."
"Both sides agreed that they should value each other's legitimate security concerns and handle the matter appropriately so that it does not affect bilateral relations," the statement said.
Relations have been strained ever since South Korea announced it would deploy an anti-missile system, which China sees as a security threat because its radar could be used to spy on its military operations. Seoul says the system is needed as a deterrent against North Korean threats.
Beijing responded by cutting trade and cultural exchanges as far as Seoul, then under the Moon Jae-in administration, agreeing in 2017 a "number three" policy – ​​no more THAAD battery deployments, the US-led regional No South Korean integration into the missile defense system, and no tripartite alliances with the US and Japan.
However, since the inauguration of new South Korean President Yoon Suk-yol in May and the discovery of closer ties with Washington, concerns about THAAD in Beijing have returned. During the campaign, Yoon also promised to buy a second Thad battery.
South Korean officials announced on Thursday that the Yun administration would not follow "number three" but would not use the THAAD system against China.
"Our government categorically states that the THAAD is a self-defense defense device intended to protect the lives and safety of our people from North Korea's nuclear and missile threats," Yonhap news agency quoted a South Korean presidential official as saying. And security is a matter of sovereignty. Can never be subject to negotiation."
According to South Korea's Lee Jong-sup, China's opposition to THAAD will not change the country's policy on the matter.
"The current battery is placed in a location where it can only defend the Korean peninsula. The battery is not structured to play any role in US defense," he told reporters.
After US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defied warnings from Beijing and visited Taiwan, diplomatic efforts between China and the United States have escalated. Most nations, including the US, do not recognize the self-governing island as an independent state because Beijing considers it part of its territory.
The high-profile visit has raised tensions in the region, and she did not meet Pelosi in person when she later went to Seoul; Instead, they talked on the phone. Unlike other countries in the region such as Japan, South Korea opted not to issue a statement regarding tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
China's ambassador to South Korea, Jing Haiming, said on Thursday that both sides wanted to strengthen ties and work to maintain the stability of the supply chain.
However, he stressed that Thad posed the "biggest challenge" to bilateral relations and urged action to be taken to deal appropriately with the matter based on "mutual understanding".
In a statement, Jing said the foreign ministers "shared the view that they should take each other's security concerns seriously and try to handle the issue properly so that the issue does not hinder bilateral relations". "
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