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South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se (right) shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi before their bilateral meeting in Seoul

The South Korean and Chinese governments clashed recently over plans for enforcing United Nations Security Council Resolution 2270 (UNSCR 2270) sanctioning North Korea for its recent nuclear test and rocket launch.

In a telephone call to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the evening of Mar. 14, South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Yun Byung-se stressed the need to “focus more on thorough enforcement of sanctions at a time when North Korea is fully repudiating the UNSC resolution and continues to threaten provocations,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.

In contrast, reports from the Chinese Foreign Ministry reported Wang as emphasizing the need to “find a way to restore the path to dialogue and negotiations” during the same call. The conflict accounts suggest the two were at odds on the issue, with Yun focusing on sanctions and Wang on a return to dialogue and negotiation.

Wang’s emphasis on “full and complete enforcement” of the resolution during his phone call with Yun was seen as a call for balance among the three areas of sanctions, political stability, and dialogue and negotiation. While announcing a list of “three appeals” during a press conference following his Mar. 11 meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Wang also said the UNSC resolution “should not be altered or optionally enforced.” In discussing the sanctions, he has repeatedly stressed the need to “prevent them from affecting livelihoods in North Korea and humanitarian needs.”

Elsewhere in his “three appeals,” Wang said that “unilateral sanctions outside the scope of the UNSC resolution are not a right conferred by the UNSC, and with no shared international understanding on them, they should obviously be treated with caution.”

The message was one of opposition to the independent sanctions imposed by the South Korean and US governments - a completely different stance from the all-out push for sanctions from Seoul and Washington.

By Kim Jin-cheol and Kim Ji-eun, staff reporters

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]