South Korea is planning to engage with China at the senior level and also seek opportunities for diplomacy aimed at trilateral cooperation with Japan and China, South Korean Ambassador to the US Cho Hyun-dong said on Thursday.
Cho told an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies that the COVID-19 pandemic had prevented high-level exchanges with China and there was a need for a new foundation of relations with its neighbor and No. 1 trading partner.
“Now we have a much-
Photo: EPA-EFE
improved situation of the pandemic, then we’re going to engage with China at the senior level and also, we are going to seek some opportunity of diplomacy in the context of trilateral cooperation between Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing,” he said.
Cho said China probably had some “unhappy reaction” to Seoul’s heavy diplomatic engagement with the US and Japan, particularly the Washington Declaration agreed at a summit last week between US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.
“But we’ll definitely engage with China,” he said. “We have to maintain a good relationship with China.”
Economic leaders of Japan, South Korea and China said in a joint message after a meeting this week that they recognize the importance of strengthening economic and trade relations to secure post-pandemic growth and prepare for future shocks.
China last week voiced its “strong dissatisfaction” to South Korea over Yoon’s joint summit statement with Biden about the need for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
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