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| President Moon Jae-in hits a gavel during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae |
Summit plan with Japanese leader ditched; Chinese leader’s visit to Seoul uncertain
By Nam Hyun-woo
The Moon Jae-in administration is struggling to improve foreign relations before the President’s term ends, but is yet to showcase any outcomes in the country’s intertwined diplomacy with two of its closest neighbors.
The president has had to ditch his plan to visit Japan to hold a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on the sidelines of the Tokyo Olympic Games, as relations between South Korea and Japan are again at a low point. Meanwhile, his invitation for Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Seoul has remained unanswered for over four years, dealing a blow to Moon’s plan to influence China’s relations with North Korea as leverage for better inter-Korean relations.
During an interview with TBS’s radio station, Tuesday, Park Soo-hyun, presidential senior secretary for public communication, said, “Moon expressed his regret when aides reported the cancellation of the plan to visit the Tokyo Games’ opening ceremony.”
“Moon said that ‘although the situation has progressed this way, I believe the leaders of the two countries should be able to meet anytime,'” Park said.
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| Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga participates in a news conference held at his official residence in Tokyo, June 17, on the country’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Reuters-Yonhap |
A day earlier, Cheong Wa Dae announced that Moon would not visit Japan on the occasion of the Games, as it sees that the two countries’ current understanding about a Seoul-Tokyo summit is “insufficient to make the summit lead to an achievement.”
The announcement followed weeks of diplomatic tensions between the two governments over the visit.
Since bilateral relations first turned soured after Japan restricted exports of certain materials to Korea in 2019, Moon has been making efforts to restore the relationship between the two countries, but these have yet to show signs of success.
Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, which will kick off Friday, the Moon administration had been seeking to use the opening ceremony as a vehicle to facilitate a summit between Moon and Suga. However, the two governments failed to narrow their differences, and the chance to improve bilateral relations through a summit during Moon’s remaining term is virtually over.
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| President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping shake hands before their summit in Beijing, Dec. 23, 2019. Joint Press Corps |
Aside from relations with Japan, Moon’s bids to improve Korea’s ties with China and North Korea also face a grim outlook.
After taking office in May 2017, Moon visited Beijing twice ― December 2017 and December 2019 ― for summits with Xi, but the Chinese leader is yet to pay a reciprocal visit to Seoul, despite Cheong Wa Dae’s continued efforts. Xi’s last visit to Korea was in 2014 during the previous Park Geun-hye administration.
China is one of Korea’s most important neighbors, as Beijing stands as Seoul’s largest trading partner. After South Korea’s 2017 decision to deploy a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery on Korean soil, the two countries’ relations have been difficult, aggravating many South Korean companies running businesses related to China.
Xi’s visit to Seoul also bears significance for Moon’s initiative on improving relations with Pyongyang and bringing peace to the Korean Peninsula.
Initially, the Moon administration has been seeking to use the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony not only as an opportunity to improve its relations with Japan but also a chance to open talks with North Korea, in the case that Pyongyang sends its athletes and ranking officials to the sporting event as well.
The North, however, announced in April that it will not participate in the Games, making the Beijing Winter Olympics in February next year one of few remaining chances for the Moon government to meet North Korean ranking officials and lay the groundwork for talks.
However, it will be a tough diplomatic choice for the Moon administration, because if Moon visits Beijing for the third time without any return visit by Xi, it could be interpreted that South Korea is desperate for talks with Xi. North Korea’s participation in the Winter Games is also a precondition for Moon’s peace campaign through sports.
“The best-case scenario would be to accomplish Xi’s visit to Seoul before the Beijing Winter Games,” an official from the liberal ruling bloc said, asking not to be named. “But it seems to be depending on the COVID-19 situation in both countries.”
In a radio interview with CBS last month, Xing Haiming, the Chinese ambassador to South Korea, said “leaders’ visits are very important for the development of bilateral relations” but “it is difficult to prepare Xi’s visit due to the pandemic.”
Moon administration labors to improve relations with Japan, China in late stage
Source: Buhay Kapa PH
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