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China’s diplomatic language towards Koreas cause stir

February 9, 2016

BEIJING (Yonhap) — When North Korea defiantly launched a long-range rocket on Sunday, South Korea announced it would begin formal talks with the United States to deploy an advanced U.S. missile shield to South Korea to better defend itself from the North’s growing threats of nuclear and missile capabilities.

North Korea’s rocket launch, widely viewed as a covert ballistic missile test, was seen as another slap in the face of China, which had dispatched its chief nuclear envoy to Pyongyang days before the launch.

South Korea’s decision to start talks on the possible deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery came as China has been lukewarm about imposing tougher sanctions against the North’s latest nuclear test. China, a key ally of North Korea, has long opposed the deployment of the THAAD battery to South Korea.

In a rare move, China’s foreign ministry called in both North Korean and South Korean ambassadors on Sunday evening.

To the North Korean ambassador, Ji Jae-ryong, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin conveyed the country’s “principled position” about the North’s rocket launch.

To the South Korean ambassador, Kim Jang-soo, Liu expressed the country’s “solemn position” about the possible deployment of the U.S. missile defense system.

It remains unclear why the Chinese ministry used such different words, but diplomatic sources said China took the issue of the THAAD as serious as North Korea’s defiant launch of a long-range rocket.

A diplomatic source in Beijing said China might have used a stronger term for South Korea’s decision about the THAAD than North Korea’s launch.

Analysts say China’s top priority is to maintain stability in North Korea, rather than denuclearizing the isolated ally.

China, North Korea’s diplomatic and economic lifeline, has resisted calls to hand down crippling economic sanctions on North Korea following its latest nuclear test.

China’s leadership is reluctant to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea because a sudden collapse of the regime could spark a refugee crisis at its border and lead to a pro-U.S., democratic Korea on its doorstep, analysts say.

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