hankyoreh

Photos of the launch of the Pukguksong-2 ballistic missile

China is moving to blame South Korea for North Korea’s ballistic missile launch, arguing that one of the causes of the launch was inter-Korean differences.

“China is opposed to the DPRK’s launch which violates the Security Council resolutions,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang during the regular press conference on Feb. 13.

While calling on countries in the region to refrain from actions that could increase tensions, Geng noted that the UN Security Council would be dealing with this matter and said that “China will take part in the discussions in a responsible and constructive manner.”

Geng also reconfirmed China’s official stance: “As a permanent member of the Security Council [. . .] China has always enforced the Council‘s resolutions in their entirety” and has “made unremitting efforts to facilitate the settlement of the issue of Korean Peninsula.”

The most striking part of Geng’s remarks was his statement that “The root of the DPRK nuclear and missile issue lies in the differences between the DPRK and the US and between the DPRK and the ROK.” The Chinese Foreign Ministry has frequently rejected the argument that China should take responsibility for North Korea’s nuclear program by attributing the program to strife between North Korea and the US, but these remarks also mention missiles and inter-Korean conflict. When asked multiple times for confirmation, Geng repeated the same remarks and said, “This is a viewpoint that has been repeatedly emphasized.”

This shows Beijing’s position that South Korea bears at least some of the responsibility for the North Korean nuclear and missile issue. After the briefing, Geng told reporters, “You see the way tensions are rising now. When one side does something, the other side does something. It never ends - it’s like a knot that never unravels.”

From this perspective, North Korea’s ballistic missile launch is seen as part of an arms race linked to military actions by South Korea and the US. It‘s also a stance apparently influenced by frustrations with Seoul for agreeing to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system deployment decision.

Meanwhile, North Korea’s missile launch was also criticized the same day as helping the THAAD deployment by South Korea and the US.

“Pyongyang‘s persistence in launching missiles will further provide an excuse to accelerate Washington and Seoul’s pace to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system in South Korea, which damages China‘s strategic interests,” the Global Times said in an op-ed.

By Kim Oi-hyun, Beijing correspondent

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