Taiwan Minister Whose Speech Was Canceled in Korea: "No Impact on Relations with Koreans"

Tang Feng, Taiwanese Executive Yuan Digital Affairs Government Commissioner. [Source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Tang Feng, Taiwan Executive Yuan Digital Affairs Minister-level Political Commissioner, who was invited as a speaker to a South Korean government event but received a cancellation notice just before the event, stated that "the incident did not affect the relationship with the Korean people."

According to Japan's Mainichi Newspaper on the 16th, Tang said in a video meeting held at the end of last year, "The Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested an explanation, but we could not get a satisfactory answer. However, afterwards, there was an opportunity to participate in an online event hosted by a Korean private organization, and there was also coverage by a Korean broadcasting company."

Tang said, "On the morning of the meeting day, I received an email (from the South Korean government side)" and added, "The reason given was 'considering various matters related to the (Taiwan) Strait.'"

Earlier, the 4th Industrial Revolution Committee, a presidential advisory body, invited Tang as an online speaker to an international conference held on the 16th of last month under the theme "Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation for a Better Future," but canceled the invitation on the day of the event. In response, the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs publicly stated that "they summoned the acting representative of the Korean Mission in Taipei to express strong dissatisfaction."

A senior official from the Blue House explained, "The cancellation of Tang's attendance was decided after comprehensively reviewing all circumstances," and added, "There is no change in the policy of expanding substantive exchanges with Taiwan through unofficial relations in areas such as economy and culture."

Tang Feng, a former genius hacker, was appointed as the Digital Political Commissioner in 2016 at the age of 35, setting the record as the youngest minister-level official in the history of the Taiwan government. Tang is also a transgender sexual minority, symbolizing the progressiveness and openness of Taiwanese society.

This month, he attended the Democracy Summit hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden as Taiwan's representative on behalf of President Tsai Ing-wen. During his video speech, Tang displayed a map differentiating countries such as China in red, representing "closed societies," and Taiwan in green, representing an "open society." The U.S. government deleted his speech video due to concerns that it might provoke China.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.