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Rep. Kang Seok-ho

China reminded a delegation from South Korea’s National Assembly that China must be allowed to take part in formally declaring the end of the Korean War. It also turns out that China has presented a proposal to the US about a four-party end-of-war declaration that would involve South Korea, North Korea, the US and China.

Ranking members of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee met with South Korean foreign correspondents in Beijing on Aug. 17 and related what they had heard in a meeting with Zhang Yesui, Chair of the National People's Congress Foreign Affairs Committee, during an Aug. 15-17 visit to China.

Zhang said that China must take part in the end-of-war declaration, that China and South Korea need to lend support to dialogue because of the almost complete lack of trust between North Korea and the US, and that China had made a proposal to the US about a four-party end-of-war declaration involving South Korea, North Korea, the US and China.

“[China] was unable to take action before the end-of-war declaration became feasible, but now that some progress has been made, China appears to think it might be sidelined if it doesn’t get actively involved,” said Rep. Jeong Byeong-guk, the ranking member from the Bareunmirae Party.

On the topic of China’s participation in an end-of-war declaration, Zhang said that China and South Korea are both positive and proactive about an end-of-war declaration while North Korea is less proactive and the US is reluctant, Jeong reported.

“This came as a surprise, since we had assumed that North Korea was the most eager [for China to participate],” Jeong said.

“We’ve thought that the end-of-war declaration was something that North Korea advocates and desires, considering that this also appeared in the Oct. 4 Joint Declaration [that was adopted during the inter-Korean summit] in 2007, so I’m not sure why Zhang reached that conclusion,” said Rep. Lee Su-hyeok, the ranking member for the Democratic Party.

“We didn’t get to ask when China made the proposal [about the four-party summit to the US], but we figured that this happened recently,” committee chair Rep. Kang Seok-ho said.

When asked about the US’s response, Kang said, “Considering that we were told that the end-of-war declaration issue depends on the US, we can infer that the American response [was negative].”

Zhang, who stepped down as China’s Vice Foreign Minister in March, is a leading figure in foreign policy at the National People’s Congress, which serves as China’s parliament. As chair of the National People’s Congress Foreign Affairs Committee, Zhang also serves as the spokesperson for the National People’s Congress when it is in session each March. While Zhang is not in a position to voice the official position of the Chinese government, his remarks are thought to be quite significant given the nature of the Chinese system, in which the legislature, government and army operate organically within the control of the Communist Party of China.

By Kim Oi-hyun, Beijing correspondent

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