Yoon "Doubtful if Chinese Ambassador Shows Mutual Respect"...Strong Criticism from Presidential Office and Government

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President Yoon Suk-yeol reportedly expressed skepticism on the 13th about whether Ambassador Xing Haiming, the Chinese ambassador to South Korea, demonstrated mutual respect or an attitude of promoting goodwill as a diplomat, following the ambassador's recent remarks to Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, that "South Korea has bet on America's victory and China's defeat" and that South Korea would "regret it."

According to the presidential office and government sources, President Yoon made these remarks during a closed Cabinet meeting held at the presidential office that morning. He also reportedly evaluated that "the inappropriate conduct of Ambassador Xing is causing displeasure among our people."

Ambassador Xing stated on the 8th during a dinner at the official residence with Lee Jae-myung that "those who bet on China's defeat will surely regret it later," and on the following day, the 9th, First Vice Foreign Minister Jang Ho-jin summoned Ambassador Xing to strongly protest. In response, on the 10th, Deputy Director-General of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Nong Rong, met with Ambassador Chung Jae-ho in China to express concerns and dissatisfaction, effectively countering the protest.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The presidential office and government view Ambassador Xing's statements as factually incorrect and damaging to South Korea-China relations.

A senior official from the presidential office told reporters that afternoon, "South Korea has stated that it builds a healthy Korea-China relationship based on the spirit of the constitution, cooperating with liberal democratic countries and allies, while simultaneously adhering to the principles of mutual respect and reciprocity. However, Ambassador Xing made a distorted remark as if such a policy were biased and excluded certain countries," adding, "The logic he used to explain Korea-China trade relations does not align with the facts."

The official continued, "As the highest-ranking diplomat in South Korea, it is the duty of the ambassador to devote himself to a friendly and neighborly relationship, and no matter what issues arise, to resolve them privately through consultation, and always maintain a diplomatic and friendly relationship in public in accordance with the spirit of the Vienna Convention. We are currently waiting for the Chinese side to reflect on this matter and take appropriate measures."

A Foreign Ministry official also stated that day, "Our government is not objecting to the ambassador's contact with politicians," but explained, "The problem lies in the ambassador deliberately criticizing our government's policies with factually incorrect content in a situation where it was clear that the remarks would be made public in the media."

He added, "This is a highly inappropriate act that violates the Vienna Convention, which defines the role of diplomatic envoys in promoting friendly relations, and diplomatic customs. It could be considered interference in domestic affairs by meddling in domestic politics. Therefore, we have issued a stern warning and expressed strong regret regarding this matter."

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