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At a regular press conference held on March 27th, Lim Su-suk, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the ROK (equivalent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan), was asked whether the "Washington Declaration" had been explained to China in advance and what the Chinese side's reaction was to it. He continued, "We ask for understanding that it is difficult for us to disclose the specifics of our discussions," and minced no words.
An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the ROK met with reporters afterward and stated, "We have no specific details on what diplomatic channels were used to explain the Washington Declaration other than that it was explained it in advance (to China)," and "We have no details to mention about the other side's reaction yet. As for whether the Washington Declaration was also explained to Russia, they said, "We will have to confirm that more details are needed."
It is speculated that the 'Washington Declaration' merely agreed on extended deterrence measures to deal with the North Korean nuclear threat and was not intended to restrain China. North Korea's neighbors China and Russia could also be threatened if the United States regularly deploys strategic assets such as nuclear submarines on the Korean Peninsula. Prior to this, the United States also gave advance explanations to the Chinese side about the 'Washington Declaration.'
In addition, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said in connection with Japanese media reports that a Japan-U.S.-South Korea trilateral summit will take place at the Group of Seven (G7) summit next month. "We are still in discussions and have not yet decided on a specific date," they said. The G7 summit will be held in Hiroshima, Japan from May 19-21.
2023/04/28 12:40 KST
