Will US President Donald Trump’s Asia trip result in deals to rein in North Korea?
South Korea’s envoy to China says deals needed during US president’s visit to region to contain Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme
South Korea’s ambassador to China hopes US President Donald Trump’s trip to Asia will result in deals to further contain North Korea from developing its missile and nuclear programme.
The newly-appointed envoy, Noh Young-min, also said South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in may visit Beijing as early as December.
“Personally I think early December is a very good timing,” said Noh, who served as chief of staff during Moon’s two election campaigns in 2012 and 2017.
“South Korea hopes that President Xi Jinping will be able to attend the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in February next year and President Xi Jinping’s visit could send a positive signal in regard to the peace and stability in Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia,” Noh said in an interview in Beijing on Tuesday.
Trump will kick off his first visit to Asia while in office on Friday.
The trip is viewed by analysts as the latest attempt to help strengthen American alliances in the region after months of uncertainties surrounding Trump’s Asia policy.
He is due to visit Asian allies Japan and South Korea, as well as China, before heading to regional summits in Vietnam and the Philippines. North Korea’s nuclear threat is widely believed to be high on his agenda.
Noh said Trump’s visit to Japan, China and South Korea would carry “important meanings” amid growing nuclear and missile threats from Pyongyang.
“In the case of a heated tensions on the Korean peninsula, especially in the face of the repeated provocations from North Korea, I hope that state leaders of countries relevant to the Korean peninsula could reach constructive deals, and such deals are expected to help to prevent North Korea from its provocations and [force the North to] return to talks,” Noh said.
The remarks by Noh were made hours after Beijing and Seoul agreed to try to end a dispute over the deployment of a US-developed missile defence shield.
China’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that it strongly opposed the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system, or THAAD, but both nations have agreed to communicate on the issue through military channels.
“Both sides shared the view that the strengthening of exchange and cooperation between China and South Korea serves their common interests and agreed to expeditiously bring exchange and cooperation in all areas back on a normal development track,” the statement said.
China and South Korea have been locked in a diplomatic stand-off over the missile shield since Seoul announced its decision to deploy the system last year.
South Korea says it is needed to counter the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme. China says the system poses as a threat to its security as its tracking systems can pry into Chinese territory.
The Chinese government’s criticism of the missile shield deployment led to a boycott by Chinese consumers of South Korean firms operating on the mainland.
The South Korea retailing giant Lotte, which has closed most of its stores in China after the boycott, is planning to sell its retail outlets on the mainland.
“Because of some outstanding issues South Korean companies in China are facing difficulties and economic cooperation between the two nations have been affected,” Noh said, “but South Korea and China have carried out negotiation with the aims to improve bilateral relations … So I say, South Korean companies should not withdraw from China.”
