S Korea, China agree cooperation on N Korea as nuclear tensions rise

South Korean Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup met his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe for the first time on Friday on the sidelines of the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue Asian security summit in Singapore.

The two defence ministers discussed Korean peninsula security and the North Korean nuclear issue.

“Minister Lee underscored the necessity for both South Korea and China to work together to ensure North Korea recognises that the benefits of abandoning nuclear weapons outweigh the costs of possessing nuclear weapons,” South Korea‘s Defence Ministry said. “[Lee] emphasised that China can play a constructive role in this process.”

In return, Wei said China has consistently maintained goals of maintaining peace and achieving denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

“[Wei] hoped that South Korea and China would cooperate to resolve the issues of the Korean Peninsula as both sides share the understanding on the matter.”

Both “share the goal of achieving denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula,” a senior Korean defence official said.

The in-person meeting came at a critical time, with North Korea launching 31 ballistic missiles including intercontinental missiles in less than six months this year, breaking the previous record of 25 in 2019.

Seoul has called for Beijing to play a constructive role in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue and using its leverage to stop Pyongyang from conducting a seventh nuclear test.

However, China also “expressed concerns” over South Korea’s deployment of the US-made Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system during the meeting.

Seoul has vowed to ensure the upgrade of a military base to permanently host the THAAD interceptor system at an early date, which has irked China.

“We emphasised that it was a defensive and essential measure that we had to take against North Korea’s sophisticated nuclear threats,” the official said. Beijing opposes the defence system, fearing it could be used to defeat Chinese missiles or spy on China.

The two leaders also committed to revitalising exchanges across their armies, navies and air forces, as well as interactions between their defence ministries, including the resumption of vice-ministerial defence strategic dialogue, South Korea’s Defence Ministry said.

“Minister Lee underscored the necessity of strengthening substantive and reciprocal cooperation based on the principle of mutual respect and common interest between the two countries on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and China,” said the Defence Ministry statement.

In return, Wei consented to developing bilateral relations by expanding military exchanges.

The two sides also committed to pushing forward reciprocal visits by their defence ministers but no specific dates were agreed upon.

New military hotlines

The South Korean and Chinese defence chiefs also agreed to open two more military hotlines between their air forces and navies in the eastern theatre of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as of Friday.

Seoul and Beijing have three existing hotlines -- one between their defence ministries and two between their air forces and navies in the PLA’s northern theatre.

Lee and Wei said the additional hotlines will “greatly contribute to preventing accidental clashes between armed forces of the two countries”, according to South Korea’s defence ministry.

The new hotlines are significant in light of continuing intrusions by Chinese warplanes into South Korea’s air defence identification zone, said a senior South Korean defence official in Singapore.

China’s containment in Indo-Pacific

The bilateral talks – the first such meeting in over two and a half years – was held at the request of the Chinese defence minister, according to South Korea.

It was also the first meeting between Chinese and South Korean defence chiefs since the Yoon government came to power in May.

Lee commented afterwards that the meeting “served as a good opportunity to have a very profitable discussion and to get to understand each other”.

China had shown a lot of interest in the Yoon government’s policy toward China and the Indo-Pacific strategy, the senior official said. The source added that Lee also expounded on the linkage between the Indo-Pacific strategies of the Yoon government and the Biden administration.

“About the Indo-Pacific strategy, Lee said [South Korea] is pursuing the goal of establishing a rules-based [international] order, citing freedom of navigation and overflight as examples. But he added that this goal does not undermine China’s national interest,” the senior official said.

The bilateral talks came just before US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin held his first in-person talk with his Chinese counterpart on Friday afternoon in Singapore.

The Korea Herald

Asia News Network

Asia News Network: The Nation (Thailand), The Korea Herald, The Straits Times (Singapore), China Daily, Jakarta Post, The Star and Sin Chew Daily (Malaysia), The Statesman (India), Philippine Daily Inquirer, Yomiuri Shimbun and The Japan News, Gogo Mongolia, Dawn (Pakistan), The Island (Sri Lanka), Kuensel (Bhutan), Kathmandu Post (Nepal), Daily Star (Bangladesh), Eleven Media (Myanmar), the Phnom Penh Post and Rasmei Kampuchea (Cambodia), The Borneo Bulletin (Brunei), Vietnam News, and Vientiane Times (Laos).