According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean President Moon Jae-in was jointly interviewed by eight major global news agencies on the 10th. Speaking of the current ROK-China relations, he believes that rok and China need to deepen economic and trade cooperation and strive to benefit the people of the two countries; and in response to the so-called "spread of 'anti-China' sentiment among the young generation in China", he said that this especially needs to enhance mutual understanding and bring the younger generation closer to friendly feelings.
On February 8, 2022, local time, Seoul, South Korea, South Korean President Moon Jae-in attended the meeting. The picture is from the surging image
With three months left in his current administration, Moon reportedly gave written interviews on February 10 to eight news agencies— Yonhap, Xinhua, Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press, Effie, Kyodo, Reuters and TASS.
Asked how to build future-oriented South Korea-China relations as so-called "anti-China" sentiment in The country continues to spread around the younger generation, Moon pointed out that this requires greater mutual understanding between the younger generations of South Korea and China. He also stressed that rok-China relations have developed by leaps and bounds in the 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1992, and the two countries should establish more mature and solid bilateral relations in the next 30 years.
Recently, the Beijing Winter Olympics have been held in full swing, but there have been some "discordant voices" in South Korea. For the Chinese Korean representatives wearing national costumes to appear at the opening ceremony, some Korean media and South Korean netizens actually set off a so-called "Hanbok controversy", and even called on their own governments to protest to the Chinese side; and in the short track speed skating competition, the South Korean sports delegation and some Korean media said that there was an "unfair judgment", but the complaint submitted by the South Korean side has been rejected by the International Skating Union.
On February 9, South Korea's Hwang Dae-hyun won the gold medal in the men's 1500m short track speed skating final at the Beijing Winter Olympics, the first gold prize south Korea has won at the Winter Olympics. Since then, South Korean President Moon Jae-in congratulated him on social media accounts, and he also said that he was happy to hear the long-awaited news that Hwang Dae-hyun won a "no one can take away" first gold with overwhelming strength, which is a quick move to sweep away the 1,000-meter "grievance".
Hwang Dae-hyun won the first gold of the South Korean delegation. Pictured by Yonhap News Agency
Regarding the so-called "Hanbok controversy" and "unfair judgment", the Chinese Embassy in the ROK has responded successively. The response pointed out that the so-called "cultural project" and "cultural plunder" of some South Korean media are completely untenable, and the Chinese side respects the historical and cultural traditions of the ROK and hopes that the ROK side will also respect the feelings of the people of all nationalities in China, including the Korean nationality; while some ROK media and politicians have pointed the spearhead at the Chinese government and the entire Beijing Winter Olympics, and even incited anti-China sentiments, poisoned the feelings of the people of the two countries, and aroused the counterattack of Chinese netizens.
Screenshot of the statement issued by the WeChat public account of the "Chinese Embassy in the Republic of Korea"
Yonhap News Agency reported that in the interview, for the economic cooperation between South Korea and China, Moon Jae-in said that it is very important for South Korea and China to carry out complementary cooperation. In the future, the two countries will also provide special support for corporate business activities, while strengthening cooperation to cope with future changes in the economic order such as carbon neutrality. With the further improvement of the international status of South Korea and China, in addition to the Korean Peninsula issue, the two countries are constantly strengthening communication on global hotspot issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.
Regarding the South Korean-Chinese summit, Moon Jae-in said that although subject to the covid-19 situation, the two countries have still communicated through various channels and will continue to do so in the future. Yonhap News Agency pointed out that this remark can be interpreted as saying that the two countries may formally discuss the holding of a video conference between the heads of state of South Korea and China.
When asked how to carry out "balanced diplomacy" between China and the United States, Moon Jae-in said that the South Korean government has always adhered to the position of coordinating the development of South Korea-China relations based on a strong ROK-US alliance, and has maintained close cooperation with China and the United States to this end, and looks forward to the next government to continue to make efforts to this end. Sino-US relations will not only affect China and the United States, but also bring great impact to peace and stability in Northeast Asia, and contributing to Sino-US communication and cooperation is also the role of the Rokka government.
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