The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on the 18th that it highly praises South Korea's reaffirmation of the 'One China' principle. However, Beijing remained silent on North Korea's nuclear issue.

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Image shows a director-general-level meeting between the foreign ministries of South Korea and China held in South Korea on the 18th. South Korea expressed its stance of respecting the 'One China' principle. / The Paper (Pengpai Xinwen)

According to Beijing diplomatic sources on the 19th, the Chinese Foreign Ministry posted this information in a Q&A format on its official website around 11:55 PM the previous night, close to midnight.

First, the Foreign Ministry posted that "Nam Jin, Director-General for Northeast and Central Asian Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters on the 18th that in the South Korea-China Joint Communique, the Government of the Republic of Korea recognized the Government of the People's Republic of Korea as the sole legal government, stating that it respects the position that there is only one China and Taiwan is a part of China."

It went on to state that "President Lee Jae-myung, in an interview with Chinese media ahead of his visit to China in January, expressed his stance on the Taiwan issue, saying, 'The basic relationship between South Korea and China has been built on a very principled and fundamental foundation since the early days of establishing diplomatic ties.'" It also introduced his remarks that "The South Korean government has always adhered to this position. It has never deviated from this stance. South Korea will continue to invariably hold onto its position of respecting the 'One China' principle regarding the Taiwan issue, which is China's most crucial concern."

The Foreign Ministry then re-emphasized that "President Lee reaffirmed during his state visit to China that South Korea respects China's core interests and major concerns and complies with the 'One China' principle," explaining that the director-general in charge at the South Korean Foreign Ministry highlighted this once again during the recent meeting.

The South Korea-China director-general-level consultation mentioned by the Chinese Foreign Ministry was attended by Director-General Nam and his counterpart Liu Jinsong, Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs. According to sources, China actively brought up the Taiwan issue during the meeting. In response, South Korea reaffirmed its stance of respecting 'One China' as declared in the 1992 South Korea-China Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations.

Naturally, Korean Peninsula issues were also discussed during the consultation. However, the Chinese Foreign Ministry remained silent on this matter and only mentioned the Taiwan issue. This indicates that Beijing's traditional stance of tolerating North Korea's nuclear possession has not significantly changed.

                                                                                                           Hong Soon-do