New ROK ambassador to China may help promote improvement in ties

NOH YOUNG-MIN, the Republic of Korea's new ambassador to China, assumed office on Tuesday in Beijing. Wang Junsheng, an expert on Korean Peninsula affairs at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, shared his views on Noh's appointment and its implications for the China-ROK ties with China Daily:

Although an immediate improvement remains unlikely, the appointment of Noh, who served as chief of staff for ROK President Moon Jae-in during the 2012 presidential election, could herald a positive change in the troubled relations between Beijing and Seoul.

His comments that the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system does not target China, and that the struggles of some ROK companies in the Chinese market have little to do with THAAD, were courteous. However, more importantly, a week before he came to Beijing, he hailed China as a close neighbor and expressed the Moon administration's willingness to get bilateral ties back onto the right track.

Both nations have a common desire to resolve the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear issue peacefully. But the deployment of THAAD in the ROK remains a thorn in their relations.

The new ROK ambassador to China is obviously trying to make a good impression by playing down THAAD's strategic repercussions for China. But Beijing has time and again made clear its opposition to the installing of the US' anti-missile system on ROK soil, and damage has been done to bilateral trade and people-to-people exchanges since Seoul has refused to lend an ear to Beijing's concerns.

ROK duty-free shops lamented lower sales than in previous years during China's weeklong National Day holiday, as Chinese holidaymakers refrained from visiting the country. Noh is right not to link ROK enterprises' Chinese operations with THAAD, though, since ROK products have long been losing their competitiveness in the Chinese market due to the rise of local rivals. But he should convey the genuine concerns of the Chinese people to Seoul.