Korea says ‘no promise was made’ to China’s policy claim

A high-ranking official from an embassy of the Republic of Korea in China rebutted the claim of the Chinese Foreign Ministry that the Yoon Suk-yeol administration has to uphold the former Moon Jae-in administration’s China policy related to THAAD, which is called “Three Nos.” The official said, “The Three Nos policy is not something we had promised to China.”

The official who remains anonymous told reporters in Beijing on Friday that even the former administration’s head of the negotiation and spokesperson said the Three Nos policy was not a promise.”

China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian publicly demanded on July 27 Korea uphold the Three Nos policy. “A new leader cannot look away from a book written by the previous leader,” he said. “All countries must basically maintain continuity and stability of their foreign policies.”

Against these remarks, the Korean official pointed out that the question here is whether there is a book written by the former administration in the first place. By denying the existence of the old book, the official emphasized that the Three Nos policy was not a commitment nor an agreement that the Yoon administration should uphold.

The policy, known as the ‘Three Nos,’ called for no additional THAAD deployment, no participation in a U.S. missile defense system, and no formation of a trilateral military alliance with Washington and Tokyo. Back in October 2017, the Moon administration announced the Three Nos policy in response to China’s ban on the import and airing of Korean entertainment content after Korea decided to deploy the American anti-ballistic missile system on its soil.


Ki-Yong Kim kky@donga.com