That’s what Xi said: S. Korea outrage over Trump’s China comment
seoul — Buffeted by the currents of diplomacy, South Korea is sometimes described as a “shrimp between two whales”, and US president Donald Trump has touched nerves with remarks that the peninsula “used to be part of China”.
The comments came after Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago retreat in Florida.
As the pair discussed ways to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions amid mounting tensions, Trump told the Wall Street Journal, Xi “went into the history of China and Korea.
“And you know, you’re talking about thousands of years... and many wars. And Korea actually used to be a part of China,” Trump went on. The exact details of what Xi said and whether Trump accurately represented him are not known, but South Koreans are wary of Chinese expansionism, and politicians have been outraged.
The Korean peninsula has been heavily influenced by China politically and culturally for centuries.
South Korean historians stress they did not come under its territorial control. Seoul’s foreign ministry spokesman countered: “The fact that Korea was not part of China for thousands of years... is a clear historical fact acknowledged by the international community.”
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang declined to confirm the details of Xi’s wording, saying that: “The Korean people should not be worried about it.”
But Seoul’s major JoongAng Ilbo daily said South Koreans had been “dumbfounded” by the Chinese leader. “If Trump really conveyed Xi’s words correctly, it is nothing but a grave challenge to the identity of the Korean people,” it said. South Korean historians and activists rallied outside the Chinese embassy on Friday to protest against Xi’s “absurd remarks”, Yonhap news agency reported.
“The fact that Trump publicly disclosed such a remark (by Xi) demonstrates that he is completely ignorant about the history of the Korean peninsula,” South Korea’s top-selling Chosun newspaper said in an editoria. —