Pres. Obama says,`Republic of Korea should speak out on China`

“We don`t want to see those rules of the road weakening, or some countries taking advantage because they`re larger. That`s not good for anybody -- including South Korea.”

At a South Korea-the U.S. summit, U.S. President Barack Obama has openly requested that Korea urge China to abide by the international laws. “The only thing that we`re going to continue to insist on is that we want China to abide by international norms and rules. Where they fail to do so, we expect the Republic of Korea to speak out on that, just as we do, because we think that both of our countries have benefited from the international norms and rules that have been in place since the end of World War II,” President Obama said at the joint press conference with President Park on Friday (local time). Having requested Korean President Park Geun-hye to urge Beijing to comply with international laws at the summit talks, the U.S. President stressed it again at the press conference. It is a diplomatic rule of a bilateral meeting not to talk about the issues of a third country. In this light, his open comment at a press conference is interpreted as an unusual pressure.

What Obama mentioned as for China’s abiding by the international laws is presumed to include issues of conflicts between the U.S. and China such as territorial dispute over the South China Sea, cyber attack, human rights abuse, exchange rate manipulation, etc.

President Obama’s comments came out when he was responding to the question that mentioned there are some cracks in the alliance between South Korea and the U.S. The question was implying Washington`s reservation that Seoul is leaning to Beijing as President Park attended China’s V-Day military parade in September. “There`s no contradiction between the Republic of Korea having good relations with us, being a central part of our alliance, and having good a relationship with China. We want to see China`s peaceful rise," Obama said. "Given the size of China right there on your doorstep, if they`re able to act with impunity and ignore rules whenever they please, that`s not going to be good for you - whether that`s on economic issues or security issues.”

shcho@donga.com