Posted on : Jul.18,2019 16:39 KST Modified on : Jul.18,2019 16:41 KST

David Stilwell, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, talks about the current South Korea-Japan trade dispute at the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul on July 17. (Kang Chang-kwang, staff photographer)

State department’s top diplomat for E. Asia visits SK Ministry of Foreign Affairs

On July 17, the US’ top diplomat for East Asia policy addressed the ongoing conflict between South Korea and Japan, which was intensified by Japan’s recent imposition of retaliatory export controls. “[The] United States is a close friend and ally to both. We will do what we can to support their efforts to resolve this,” said David Stilwell, the new assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.

Stillwell made the remarks following back-to-back meetings with officials from the Blue House and South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which took place at the Foreign Ministry office in Seoul on July 17.

“So fundamentally, [the] ROK [South Korea] and Japan must resolve these sensitive matters, and we hope that resolution happens soon,” he said.

“The US places a great priority on strengthening relations between our country and our two close allies […] the ROK and Japan. The truth is, no significant issue in this region can be resolved without cooperation between our two allies.”

Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Yoon Soon-gu, who attended the meeting, also reported that “we explained our position, and Assistant Secretary Stilwell said that the US will also strive as much as possible to aid the resolution of this issue by resuming dialogue.”

Stilwell’s remarks are taken to mean that South Korea and Japan need to resolve their conflict through dialogue, but that the US will play the role as a “dialogue facilitator.”

“After hearing the South Korean side of things, Stilwell said he would look into options after returning to the US. The message that the US had for South Korea and Japan is that this issue needs to be resolved through dialogue,” said an official at the Foreign Ministry.

At the same time, it doesn’t appear that the US will take on the proactive role of a mediator under the current circumstances. “The US’ message is that it doesn’t want the situation to get any worse and that it wants South Korea and Japan’s relationship to be quickly repaired,” said Kim Hyeon-uk, a professor at the Korean National Diplomatic Academy, while also noting that “this means that the US won’t be directly intervening to mediate this issue.”

South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha (right) shakes hands with Stilwell at the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs on July 17. (photo pool)

Obama valued trilateral cooperation more than Trump does

Whereas the Obama administration regarded trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan as being essential for containing China in the wake of the global financial crisis, the Trump administration doesn’t see such cooperation as being a key element of its East Asia policy. So as long as the situation doesn’t deteriorate to the point where it harms the US’ security interests, analysts believe, the US won’t be getting directly involved.

Stilwell spent Wednesday in a series of meetings with officials from South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the morning, he met Blue House National Security Office Second Deputy Director Kim Hyun-jong and Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon, and in the afternoon he sat down with Yoon, his counterpart, before paying a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha. Stilwell said that his meetings with South Korean government officials had been “very productive” and had involved a meaningful discussion of not only bilateral and regional issues but also global issues.

Stilwell explained that the two sides had talked about how to further strengthen their already robust alliance and discussed ways to find natural synergies between the US’ Indo-Pacific Strategy and South Korea’s New Southern Strategy, which he said overlap considerably and offer considerable opportunities. An official from South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said that Stilwell hadn’t asked South Korea to participate in the defense of the Strait of Hormuz during the day’s meetings.

By Park Min-hee, staff reporter

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

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