Updated
Updated · South China Morning Post · Aug 20
Wang Yi Urges US to End North Korea Policy as He Presses Seoul for Autonomy
Updated
Updated · South China Morning Post · Aug 20

Wang Yi Urges US to End North Korea Policy as He Presses Seoul for Autonomy

3 articles · Updated · South China Morning Post · Aug 20

Summary

  • Wang Yi said Washington should abandon its long-standing “hostile policy” toward North Korea, casting that shift as key to peace and stability on the peninsula.
  • In Seoul, China’s top diplomat also urged South Korea to pursue “independent, autonomous, balanced and non-conflicting” foreign ties rather than align reflexively with the US.
  • Wang said Beijing would keep playing a “constructive role,” but sidestepped whether China could help arrange a Donald Trump-Kim Jong-un summit, saying that was for Pyongyang and Washington to decide.
  • The remarks came during Wang’s first Seoul visit in five years, as doubts about US reliability have grown after Trump cut joint drills with South Korea.

Insights

With Washington stepping back, can Seoul's risky diplomatic pivot to Beijing actually stop Pyongyang's expanding nuclear threat?
Could Seoul's quiet shift away from demanding complete denuclearization trigger an unprecedented new arms race in the Pacific?