| U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talks with South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo during their meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap |
Presidential office says Yoon-Pelosi meeting was not held due to time conflict
By Kang Seung-woo
President Yoon Suk-yeol spoke with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the phone, Thursday, opting for an alternative that dispelled worries he was snubbing the No. 3 official in the U.S. government by not meeting her in person.
Pelosi arrived in Seoul on Wednesday night following a controversial stop in Taiwan as part of her Asian trip.
According to Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo, Yoon and Pelosi spoke by phone for 40 minutes to discuss pending issues, such as North Korea's nuclear challenge and the alliance between Seoul and Washington.
Referring to Pelosi's visit to the Joint Security Area near the heavily fortified inter-Korean border, Yoon was quoted as saying, “Her visit will become a sign of deterrence between South Korea and the United States against North Korea.” In response, Pelosi told Yoon the allies need to jointly build a free and open Indo-Pacific order, according to Kim.
The presidential office said the phone talks were also accompanied by five other members of Congress and U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Philip Goldberg.
Yoon is on a five-day summer vacation until Friday, so the presidential office said, Wednesday, the president had no plan to meet with Pelosi. The presidential office added that the U.S. side fully understood Yoon's situation.
But the presidential office changed its stance and announced that they would have a phone meeting. The announcement came as none of the senior officials of the Yoon administration had planned to hold a meeting with Pelosi, raising speculation that the South Korean government faced a dilemma amid the U.S.-Sino rivalry. The U.S. is a staunch ally of South Korea, while China is its largest trading partner.
The conjecture was further fueled by the fact that no one from the South Korean government was present at Osan Air Base to welcome Pelosi. According to Yoon's office, the protocol for her visit was coordinated between Pelosi's side and the National Assembly. But a media report said Pelosi was unhappy with the treatment, citing an official at the U.S. Embassy in South Korea.
The presidential office denied speculation that Yoon chose to skip a meeting with Pelosi because he was wary of the potential impact on South Korea-China relations.
Choi Young-bum, senior presidential secretary for public relations, said Yoon and Pelosi were not able to meet in person because of conflicting schedules.
He told reporters that the presidential office had informed the U.S. earlier that Pelosi's visit coincided with Yoon's summer vacation and thus it would be difficult for the president to find time for a meeting with the House speaker, which the U.S. fully understood.
“Decisions are made based on national interest,” he said when asked why Yoon's face-to-face meeting with Pelosi was not held, noting that what he meant by his comments is something the media should interpret.
In response to the absence of a Yoon-Pelosi meeting, some lawmakers in the ruling People Power Party (PPP) criticized Yoon for not meeting the visiting U.S. official, while having time to dine with theater actors during his vacation.
“While the U.S. Congress plays an important role in the South Korea-U.S. alliance, Pelosi is its leader. It is not reasonable that the president skips a meeting with such an important figure just because he is on vacation,” Yoo Seong-min, a former four-term lawmaker and presidential candidate, said on Facebook, Thursday, adding that previous presidents traditionally met with U.S. congressional officials and other defense and state secretaries when they visited South Korea.
Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the PPP also recommended that Yoon meet Pelosi in consideration of national interests, although it may be uncomfortable to meet her right after her visit to Taiwan that drew a strong backlash from China.
“Their common interest is North Korea's nuclear issue and the South Korea-U.S. alliance, not matters linked to Taiwan,” Ha said on Facebook.
Pelosi's visit also comes as South Korea is caught in a dilemma amid the intensifying strategic competition between Washington and Beijing as both countries are pressuring Seoul to take sides with them.
Currently, the United States has asked South Korea to respond to its invitation by the end of August to participate in an envisaged strategic alliance of four global chip powerhouses that also includes Japan and Taiwan, also known as the Chip 4 or Fab 4, a platform apparently aimed at countering China's growing influence in global supply chains.
On the other hand, the Chinese government has pressured and persuaded South Korea against edging away from Beijing, using its status as Seoul's largest trading partner.
The choice to hold a phone meeting was positively viewed by diplomatic observers.
“The Taiwan issue may stretch to the Korean Peninsula no matter how limited the impact would be as China has strongly responded to Pelosi's visit to Taipei. In that respect, it can be a strategic option for Yoon to skip a meeting with her,” said Cho Han-bum, a senior researcher of the Korea Institute for National Unification.
“While in Taiwan, Pelosi unnecessarily provoked China, so we should control the level of how to act. So there is no need for Yoon to meet Pelosi and cause misunderstanding in its relations with China.”