Chinese media praised Seoul's obedience to China

 China-free US-SK joint statement shows Seoul's rationality, pragmatic consideration of geopolitical interests: analysts

By Deng Xiaoci

Published: Mar 18, 

The statement was released Thursday following a meeting between South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and Minister of National Defense Suh Wook, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Seoul. And throughout the document, China was not mentioned - in contrast to what Chinese observers deemed the "most acrimonious" joint statement between Washington and Tokyo that explicitly promoted a political agenda of containing China, released a day earlier.




"It is not hard to understand such differences between Seoul and Tokyo." Zheng explained that South Korea has a deeper reliance on China in many fields including economic recovery, coronavirus battle and Korean Peninsula nuclear issues, which do not allow it to overly tilt toward either side between China and the US.