President Yoon Suk Yeol’s reference to the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea in a recent media interview was meant to highlight the importance of the rules-based international order vital to global peace and prosperity, a foreign ministry official said Tuesday.
Yoon said in an interview with the British daily Telegraph, published Monday ahead of his state visit to London, that the tensions in the South China Sea, the war in Ukraine, Israel-Hamas conflict and North Korean threats are what led him to seek close security cooperation with the West.
Yoon pointed out the importance of “peace and stability” in the Taiwan Strait and a “rules-based maritime order” in the South China Sea.
His remarks irked China, with the foreign ministry in Beijing responding that South Korea had no need to “join the fray” and that China does not “need anyone to dictate what we do or don’t do,” according to Reuters.
A foreign ministry official in Seoul said Yoon’s remarks were intended to highlight the rules-based order amid the global polycrisis.
“It’s only natural that we express our interest in the issues, as maintaining the rules-based maritime order based on the international law in the South China Sea, and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is a matter that has a significant impact on the peace and prosperity in the region and across the globe,” the official said.
“As we have said many times, the government hopes to work together with China to not only develop bilateral relations but also for freedom, peace and prosperity in East Asia and the international community, based on mutual respect, reciprocity, and mutual benefits,” the official added. (Yonhap)
Source : TheKoreaTimes
