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Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyun and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha examine documents during a plenary session of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on Nov. 27. (Yonhap News)
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The Chinese government had reportedly asked for limiting use of the anti-missile system
In response to claims that China has asked for the operation of the THAAD missile defense system to be restricted, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said on Nov. 27 that “the South Korean government is not thinking about restricting the operation of the THAAD system.” She also reconfirmed that the claims about China are “not the truth.” Kang made the remarks during a plenary session of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee after Liberty Korea Party lawmaker Yun Sang-hyeon asked whether the government was considering the option of limiting its use of the THAAD system because of China’s concerns. “Matters related to operating the THAAD system are decided on the level of the South Korea-US alliance,” Kang said. At the end of last month, the South Korean government announced the “three no’s” (no deployment of additional THAAD batteries, no participation in a US-led missile defense system and no participation in a trilateral alliance with the US and Japan) in order to ease the conflict with China triggered by the deployment of the THAAD battery. Controversy swirled recently after claims were made by certain groups that China wanted South Korea to add “one restriction” to the “three no’s” by restricting the operation of the THAAD battery that has already been deployed. “The ‘three no’s’ were not matters on which we gave China our consent, but were simply a repetition and confirmation of [the South Korean government’s] existing position. It is definitely not the truth that China has also asked for ‘one restriction,’” Kang declared. When asked whether China had made any more requests about THAAD, Kang said that it had not. During the session, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyun addressed the question of whether South Korea would dispatch a special envoy to North Korea with the sole purpose of asking North Korea to participate in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. “While I sympathize with the motivation, a special envoy is significant and symbolic in several respects, and North Korea’s position must also be taken into consideration. While we are committed to doing everything we can for the North can participate, it would not be appropriate to comment specifically,” Cho said. “We continue to send messages through international agencies and countries that are in dialogue with North Korea. I can’t go into detail since some aspects of this are sensitive, but we are exploring all our options,” Kang said. By Jung In-hwan, staff reporter Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
