Keep up cooperation: The Korea Herald

The top diplomats from South Korea, China and Japan met in Tokyo on Saturday.

Their meeting came a year and four months after their last gathering in Busan, South Korea, in November 2023.

It is noteworthy that they met a day after top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang, demonstrating the cozy relationship between Russia and North Korea.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said in a joint press conference after the meeting that South Korea, China and Japan affirmed that maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula serves the common interests of the three countries.

He said that Russia and North Korea should stop their military cooperation immediately and that North Korea should not be rewarded for actions such as dispatching its troops to Ukraine to fight for Russia. There are concerns that Russia may provide advanced military technology to North Korea in return.

It is worrisome that Pyongyang-Moscow ties, buttressed by their treaty on a comprehensive strategic partnership signed in June last year, have deepened to the level of troop deployments. Under the treaty, should either nation find itself in a state of war due to an armed invasion, the other must provide military assistance without delay.

In Pyongyang, Shoigu reportedly presented an “important signed letter” from Russian President Vladimir Putin to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The former Russian defense minister is said to have exchanged views on issues related to defending the security interests of the two countries.

As North Korea-Russia relations get closer, South Korea’s diplomacy with China grows in importance.

However, South Korea and Japan, traditionally aligned with Washington, are in a similar position on security and North Korea issues, while there are subtle differences between them and China.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed a political solution to Korean Peninsula problems but without mentioning North Korea. Seoul should ask Beijing to play a role in containing its ally North Korea.

To mitigate the negative impacts of North Korea’s closer ties with Russia, it would be helpful to strengthen cooperation with China and Japan in addition to cooperating with the US and Japan.

But balanced diplomacy is required because an excessive inclination toward Beijing will invite backlash from Washington.

South Korea and Japan differ from Beijing on North Korea issues, and they are also cautious about Beijing’s push for regional economic integration. In this situation, it is desirable to focus first on cultural exchanges to advance trilateral cooperation.

Fortunately, Cho and Wang agreed to work harder to improve the mutual understanding between the two nations, raising expectations for Beijing to lift its ban on the import of Korean culture such as K-music and K-drama.

Though China has not acknowledged the ban officially, it has effectively been in force for nearly 10 years. It was imposed in protest against the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, a US anti-missile system, to South Korea in 2016.

The meeting of foreign ministers from South Korea, China and Japan is an important diplomatic platform. However, sustaining their cooperation is not easy because their interests are entangled. South Korea should keep up the trilateral cooperation through the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, which it will host in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, in October.

However, Seoul needs to be wary of Beijing’s expansionist moves. China unilaterally erected a large unauthorized steel structure within the South Korea-China Provisional Measures Zone in the Yellow Sea off the west coast of South Korea. Seoul suspects that Beijing might claim later an area around the structure as its territorial waters, infringing on South Korea’s legitimate maritime interests. Of course, China’s basic perceptions of its ally North Korea are little changed.

South Korea-US-Japan cooperation is always important. Seoul’s cooperation with Beijing is important, too, but there must be a stern response on security and territorial issues. South Korea-China-Japan cooperation should be strengthened on this premise.