South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun virtually participated in the ninth Strategic Dialogue with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng on Thursday, the first such meeting between the two sides since June 2017.
The diplomats held an “in-depth discussion” on areas of mutual interest, including efforts to reopen stalled denuclearisation talks with North Korea, as well as Beijing’s preparations to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in February.
Both leaders also pledged to strengthen “substantial cooperation” in the fields of economy, environment, and culture. In this regard, they “agreed to strengthen performance-oriented substantial cooperation” by ensuring the security of a raw material supply chain and jointly addressing climate change.
According to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, Choi and Le further “shared the view on the significance of leader-to-leader and high-level exchanges in improving bilateral relations and agreed to continue strategic communication in various ways including face-to-face and virtual format.”
Furthermore, they agreed to “develop their strategic cooperative partnership into more mature and future-oriented relations,” to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations next year. Yeo Seung-bae, the deputy minister for political affairs at the South Korean Foreign Ministry, confirmed that both sides continue to maintain “close communication” on the upcoming summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of South Korea’s ongoing spat with Taiwan, which China claims as its own under the ‘One China’ policy. Taiwan said on Tuesday that it had lodged a protest with South Korea after a Taiwanese minister was disinvited from a South Korean conference.
Taiwanese Digital Minister Audrey Tang was originally invited to speak virtually at the 4th Global Policy Conference in Seoul on December 16. However, Taiwanese foreign ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou said that the organisers cancelled the diplomat’s invite through e-mail only a few hours prior to her address. Ou elaborated that the organisers had cited “various aspects of cross-Strait issues,” possibly referring to pressure from Beijing over Tang’s invitation.
Calling the late cancellation “rude and inappropriate,” the spokesperson added that Taiwan’s foreign ministry had summoned the deputy representative and acting chief of the Korean mission to Taipei to “express strong dissatisfaction over the impolite action.”
However, South Korea, which officially recognises Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan, responded to the protest by saying that the decision had been made “after a comprehensive review of all related aspects.”
Despite being a Western ally, Moon announced earlier this month that his country will not be joining the United States-led diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Moon said that Seoul seeks a “harmonious relationship” with Beijing and added that his administration must work with Beijing to deal with North Korea and bring peace to the Korean Peninsula. The decision was warmly welcomed by China, which is sure to have appreciated its South Korea’s recent interaction with Taiwan as well.