Lee Jae-myung, ‘China-Taiwan war has nothing to do with Korea’ ‘We must sell goods first’ for national interest

Lee Jae-myung, ‘China-Taiwan war has nothing to do with Korea’ ‘We must sell goods first’ for national interest

Presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung revealed his hard-line conservative foreign policy strategy by changing from ‘War between China and Taiwan’ to ‘Korea must sell goods first for national interest.’

During a campaign in Daegu on the 13th, the candidate said, “We should always focus on national interest, the ROK-US alliance as ROK-US alliance, ROK-US-Japan cooperation as cooperation, and maintain good relations with not only the US but also China and Russia, and sell goods, right?” and added, “I said ‘thank you.’ We should say ‘thank you.’ We should say ‘thank you.’ We should say ‘thank you.’ We should say ‘thank you.’ We should get along well with other countries. What does it have to do with us whether Taiwan and China fight? Did I say something wrong?” and made a statement that ‘allows war between China and Taiwan.’

On March 22, 2024, right before the general election last year, this candidate said, “Why are we intervening in the cross-strait issue? (To China) just say shi shi, and to Taiwan just say shi shi,” and said, “We will not intervene in the Taiwan Strait dispute,” and in this presidential election, he expanded it to “war is possible.”

In his remarks at the Daegu campaign that day, this candidate said, “The Korea-US alliance is important in diplomacy. We should protect it and develop it well. We should cooperate in security with Korea, the US, and Japan. That doesn’t mean we should be enemies with other countries,” and “We should always focus on national interests, the Korea-US alliance should be the Korea-US alliance, the Korea-US-Japan cooperation should be the cooperation, and we should maintain good relations with China and Russia while selling goods and cooperating. We should just say shi shi to China, and shi shi to Taiwan, and get along well with other countries. What does it have to do with us whether Taiwan and China fight?”

He clearly revealed his diplomatic and security policy that “the possibility of war between China and Taiwan has nothing to do with Korea.”

The Hankyoreh reported on the 13th that <his remarks, which sparked controversy over 'submissive diplomacy,' emphasized that he meant to make the people live better through diplomacy centered on national interests>.

Newsis reported that <Lee appealed to Daegu citizens' support, saying that just as diplomacy should be centered on national interests, voting for politicians should also be done from a pragmatic perspective, not an ideological or factional perspective>.

The Chosun Ilbo reported that <Lee, who has refrained from making remarks related to China in the past due to the pro-China controversy, has responded head-on in an unusual way>.

KBS reported that <Lee Jae-myung appealed to conservatives for support, saying that the most important issue is making a living, and that they should go beyond regions and ideologies to work together for the future> and <he brought up his past remarks, saying that pragmatism is important even in diplomatic issues>, citing Lee's remarks in Daegu.

 

Reuters reported on the 15th that “Last month, China held a war game codenamed ‘Strait Thunder-2025A’ around Taiwan, and the ‘A’ at the end of the game suggests that there could be more wars to come.”
A senior government spokesman said on the 15th that it cannot rule out the possibility that China will conduct more military exercises to “stir up trouble” around the first anniversary of President Lai Ching-te’s inauguration next week, Reuters reported.
The spokesperson went on to say that China conducted another regular ‘joint combat readiness patrol’ around Taiwan on the 11th, and Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense reported that China had increased its military activities by mobilizing a total of 131 aircraft and 32 warships.
Reuters reported that “China has repeatedly rejected Taiwanese representative Lai Ching-te’s proposal for talks, calling him a ‘separatist,’” and that Liang Wen-chieh, vice chairman and spokesperson for Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Commission, said at a regular press conference on the 15th that “China’s threats against Taiwan have become a ‘normal situation,’ and that China conducted military exercises immediately after Lai took office last year,” adding that “we do not rule out the possibility that the Chinese Communist Party will use Lai’s inauguration ceremony to cause trouble again and use the military exercises for political propaganda.”
Reuters then reported that spokesperson Lang said that “Lai has faced a series of ‘unfriendly Chinese actions,’ including war games, over the past year.”

 

China's official foreign policy is a policy of forced unification, which regards Taiwan as its territory, and the Taiwanese government has official relations with 12 countries around the world, while South Korea is a country that has severed diplomatic relations.

Taiwan rejects China's claim to sovereignty and asserts that the ruling party of 'Taiwan independence' has all the rights to establish diplomatic relations with other countries, and China has no right to represent Taiwan on the world stage or to put pressure on Taiwan on the international stage.

The Taiwan Strait is a region at risk of war due to an international dispute over 'freedom of navigation' led by the United States, and the strategic conflict between the Republican and Democratic parties in the United States in response to China's 'One China' policy was a point of contention over arms sales to Taiwan, so the Korean Peninsula served as a lever for the crisis of war, and the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 is a dominant analysis that it was a bypass for the Taiwan Strait War that followed the end of the war between the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang in 1949. On the 13th, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a forum in Beijing and accelerated the pressure on Taiwan by having Haiti and Saint Lucia, two countries in Latin America that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, participate in the event.
Reuters reporters attending the Beijing forum reported on the 13th that they saw “the flags of the two countries at the forum venue,” with Haiti represented by Foreign Minister Jean-Victor Havel and Saint Lucia represented by Diplomat Peter Lanciquot in the main conference room of the event venue in the Chinese capital.

In response to a question about the “participation of the two countries,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stated that “this forum is an important platform for ‘mutually beneficial cooperation’ between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries,” and that “China has always welcomed and supported the participation of CELAC (Community of South American and Caribbean States) member countries within the framework of the forum.”

Reuters reported that “Haiti and Saint Lucia are both members of CELAC,” and that “Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had been informed in advance by the other countries that officials from both countries would attend. Haiti said that Taiwan’s foreign minister attended, considering that Haiti is a CELAC member, and Saint Lucia said in a statement from its foreign minister that the attendee, Lancequott, was not a government representative but a member of the Saint Lucian Labor Party.”

Senior officials from both countries, who had initially attended in Beijing privately, said in response to questions from Reuters reporters that “both foreign ministries repeatedly emphasized the importance of friendship with Taiwan,” Reuters reported on the tense relationship due to sensitive diplomatic strategies.
Regarding Reuters’ interview, the Haiti and Saint Lucia embassies in Taiwan “did not respond to requests for comment,” Reuters said.
Refer to <Lee Jae-myung’s election pledge to boost stock market by expanding currency and supply during recession becomes a hard-line conservative, May 14, 2025>