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A South Korean photographer covering President Moon Jae-in’s visit to China is assaulted by members of a Chinese security service on Dec. 14. (Yonhap News)
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“A hostile symbiosis of hatred” threatens to sabotage bilateral relations once again
“For the sake of the greater good, please don’t report on this. Some people are also saying that the South Korean reporter was the first to use harsh language and grab the security guards by the collar.” The Chinese reporter who had called me apologized repeatedly on behalf of the perpetrators and asked me to refrain from reporting on the assault on South Korean photojournalists by guards from a Chinese security company that occurred on Dec. 14 at an event attended by South Korean President Moon Jae-in. It took me more than half an hour to get off the phone, after telling the reporter that it was not my place to accept the apology and that they should be doing their own reporting on the incident. The central problem with this incident was that no one was taking responsibility for the beating – even though photographs and video footage of the events had been published and despite China’s powerful surveillance network of ubiquitous security cameras powered by artificial intelligence. Since China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the incident is “under investigation,” I hope that the truth will come out and that appropriate measures will be taken, but it’s a shame that this incident has seriously damaged efforts to restore South Korea-China relations. It’s clear that the leaders of these two countries have been cautiously moving to improve relations – Moon turned to history to focus on what South Korea and China have in common; Chinese President Xi Jinping refrained from mentioning THAAD directly; and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang mentioned a “spring day,” symbolizing a new era of bilateral relations. But with the voices in some quarters blocking the recovery of the relationship between South Korea and China constituting a “symbiosis of hatred,” bilateral relations are in a precarious situation in which the slightest shock can send them spiraling downward once again. “Overseas Explorer,” a commenter on China’s Jinri Toutiao news portal, wrote on Dec. 16 that the lack of a joint press conference or statement during Moon’s visit to China meant that South Korea was reaping what it had sown, parroting criticisms that have been voiced by certain sectors of the South Korean conservative media. The same has been happening with the assault on the reporters, which one Chinese media outlet claimed had been “staged by the South Korean media and certain South Korean politicians who are colluding to slander China.” The main evidence for this conclusion was that comments on related articles in the South Korean conservative media said that “the behavior of South Korean reporters is shameful.” This adds up to a vicious cycle in which domestic criticism of the South Korean government feeds anti-South Korean sentiment in China, which is then quoted and reported on by the Chinese media, further provoking anti-Chinese sentiment in South Korea. This is a “hostile symbiosis of hatred” that is likely supported by those who stand to gain from a deterioration of South Korea-China relations. By Kim Oi-hyun, Beijing correspondent Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
