Ruling and opposition clash over Sing Haiming's remarks... "Questioning character" vs "Yoon is the cause"

Park Sung-joong "Doubts About Lee Jae-myung's Character"
Ha Tae-kyung "Lee Jae-myung Called 'Lee-zzaming'"
Hyun Geun-taek "Yoon Government Responsible for Deterioration of Korea-China Relations"
Kim Eui-gyeom "President Yoon's Remarks Sparked the Issue"

Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming criticized our government's diplomacy for 15 minutes during a dinner with Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 8th, including remarks to the effect of "You will regret not betting on China," which sparked differing opinions between the ruling and opposition parties. The ruling party criticized Ambassador Xing's remarks and pointed out Lee's attitude, while the opposition raised their voices, saying that President Yoon Suk-yeol's "Taiwan remarks" were the initial provocation to China.

Park Sung-joong, a member of the People Power Party, said on the 12th on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' "The ambassador over there is criticizing Korea's diplomacy for more than 15 minutes, and to quietly listen and agree with that, how can such a thing be said? I really doubt the character of Leader Lee," adding, "If you are the leader of the opposition, regardless of ruling or opposition, diplomacy should be national interest diplomacy."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, visited Xing Haiming, Chinese Ambassador to Korea, at the Chinese Ambassador's residence in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, on the evening of the 8th, and they toured the residence together. Photo by National Assembly Press Corps

Regarding Ambassador Xing Haiming's remarks, Park said, "Ambassador Xing crossed the red line. 'You will regret betting on China's defeat'?this is actually close to a threat," and added, "He even gave advice that North Korea's provocations and the joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises should be stopped simultaneously, which is a diplomatic outrage beyond interference in internal affairs."

Ha Tae-kyung, also from the People Power Party, criticized Leader Lee on the same day on BBS's 'Jeon Young-shin's Morning Journal,' saying, "Do you know what Lee's nickname is online these days? He is called 'Li Zaiming' online," and added, "Showing behavior as if he is a Chinese henchman is a great shame." Heun-ah Heo also pointed out on KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs' that Lee should not have attended the dinner, saying, "Using the international diplomatic stage for domestic politics is such a difficult thing, but such an unfortunate incident could not be helped." This implies that Leader Lee brought trouble by trying to use the international diplomatic stage for domestic politics.

However, the Democratic Party emphasized that Ambassador Xing Haiming's remarks were provoked first by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's hardline diplomacy toward China. Hyun Geun-taek, deputy director of the Democratic Research Institute, said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "The cause of the deterioration in Korea-China relations is the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. China has not changed. China remained the same. But now the Yoon administration keeps mentioning the Taiwan issue and the South China Sea, moving toward Japan and the U.S.," blaming the government as the cause.

In particular, mentioning the Taiwan issue provoked China. Deputy Director Hyun said, "The first cause of the problem with China was the South China Sea issue, especially the Taiwan issue, which President Yoon Suk-yeol kept mentioning," and added, "Not commenting on the South China Sea issue was, in a way, a diplomatic precedent for about 30 years, but that was broken and the issue was mentioned, which caused China's backlash and led to the deterioration of Korea-China relations."

On the evening of the 8th, Xing Haiming, the Chinese Ambassador to Korea, delivered a greeting while receiving a courtesy visit from Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, at the Chinese Ambassador's residence in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

Kim Eui-gyeom, a member of the Democratic Party, also said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' "I think the root cause of this problem started from President Yoon raising an issue that should not have been touched," and added, "(President Yoon) mentioned the Taiwan issue, but our people do not deeply feel how sensitive and dangerous this issue is, but from China's perspective, the Taiwan issue is a principle they cannot give up."

When asked by the host whether Ambassador Xing Haiming's remarks are acceptable, Kim said, "I do not want to defend Ambassador Xing or China's harsh reaction and response," but added, "However, I want to criticize why the president, who is responsible for the safety of the country and its people, made such a reckless remark first that caused such turmoil, danger, and harm to our national interest."

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