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Foreign Minister Park Jin of South Korea speaks with his Chinese counterpart Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Aug. 9 in Qingdao, China. (Yonhap News)

One day after a dialogue between the South Korean and Chinese foreign ministers, the Chinese government emerged with calls for a new approach to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) issue — one that would go a step farther from its previous “three noes” position by imposing additional restrictions.

It also presented a list of five demands that it insisted Seoul would have to meet for the two sides to further develop their “strategic partnership.”

The response suggests that the first meeting of the two sides’ foreign ministers failed in its intended purpose of helping South Korea and Japan establish their relationship on a new footing with the arrival of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. Their relationship appears poised to sour further over differences on THAAD and other key issues.

In a regular briefing Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin was asked what the Chinese Foreign Minister had meant with his remarks about THAAD in the meeting the day before, when he stressed the need to “take seriously each other’s security concerns” and “properly handle the issue.”

Emphasizing that the US’ deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea “clearly undermines China’s strategic security interest,” Wang went on to say China had “made clear its concern to the ROK (South Korean) side on multiple occasions.”

“Previously, the ROK government officially announced its policy of ‘three nos and one restriction,’” he continued.

“China attaches importance to this position of the ROK government. Based on the understanding between the two sides, China and the ROK were able to properly handle the THAAD issue,” he said.

In his remarks, Wang argued that Seoul had made a political pledge to China to follow the “three noes and one restriction” approach on the THAAD issue, and that it was obliged to honor that.

While China has insisted in the past on South Korea upholding the “three noes” agreement on THAAD, it had not spoken publicly about restrictions on the use of the currently deployed system.

The “three noes” in this case refers to the pledge not to deploy additional THAAD batteries, not to take part in the US missile defense system, and not to form a military alliance with the US, and Japan, which the Moon Jae-in administration openly declared in late October 2017 in an effort to patch up its conflict with Beijing over the deployment of THAAD with US Forces Korea.

The “one restriction” refers to restricting the operation of the THAAD system that has currently been deployed. It may explain why Moon avoided full-scale operation of THAAD, citing factors such as environmental impact assessment findings. Chinese state-run media have referred to it as a “pledge” between China and South Korea.

The chill between the two sides over the THAAD issue was also evident in remarks from South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin.

Meeting with the South Korean press in Qingdao on Wednesday, Park said Seoul had “made it clear to China” that the “three noes” were “neither an agreement nor a pledge.”

A South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official closely acquainted with the dialogue explained, “Basically, the two foreign ministers were clearly sounding out each other’s positions on THAAD in depth.”

“At the same time, both sides clearly agreed that the issue should not be allowed to become a stumbling block for developing South Korea-China relations. That’s the key takeaway,” the official added.

While the remarks did confirm a definite difference in the two sides’ views on the THAAD issue, they also indicated hope that it would not become a crucial variable causing relations to sour.

In a press release posted to its website shortly after the talks, the MOFA said, “Our two sides exchanged views on the THAAD issue in depth and explained our respective positions, and we recognized [the need] to value each other’s security concerns, work toward their harmonious handling, and not allow them to become stumbling blocks that affect bilateral relations.”

But the remarks by Wang on Wednesday repeatedly affirmed that China has no intention of compromising on the THAAD issue.

Additionally, the Chinese Foreign Ministry also posted five demands on its website, which included adhering to an approach of independence and autonomy without external interference, maintaining neighborly relations and showing consideration for each other’s major areas of interest, and protecting supply chain stability through an approach of openness and cooperation.

As the two sides mark the 30th anniversary of their diplomatic relationship, this amounted to China laying out a list of “guidelines” for South Korea to follow to avoid conflicting with China’s interests as the current conservative administration follows a diplomatic approach favoring the US. The demands appear likely to trigger an outcry from critics who view it as irregular and inappropriate for one country to issue such explicit demands to another.

The controversy over the “three noes” issue dates back to 2017. After the THAAD system was deployed with US Forces Korea that year, South Korea-China relations faced a rapid chill as China retaliated with what became known as its “Korean Wave ban.”

To get past the situation, the two sides held talks on Oct. 31 of that year between Nam Gwan-pyo, second deputy director of South Korea’s Office of National Security, and Kong Xuanyou, China’s deputy foreign minister. The result of that meeting was the list of “three noes.”

Since then, China has maintained that both sides agreed to uphold the “three noes,” while South Korea has insisted that it was a “position statement” rather than a pledge.

The THAAD issue reemerged as a core factor disrupting South Korea-China relations during the election campaign, when then-candidate Yoon Suk-yeol made remarks in January pledging additional THAAD deployment.

The Chinese government has been putting intense pressure on Seoul to carry on the “three noes” approach, with spokesperson Zhao Lijian stressing on July 27 that “a commitment made should be a commitment kept despite change of government.”

By Choi Hyun-june, Beijing correspondent

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