South Korea's 2nd Vice Foreign Minister, Lee Tae-ho (R), shakes hands with China's Assistant Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang prior to a meeting of the joint economic committee between the two countries at the foreign ministry in Seoul on June 19, 2019. (Image credit: Yonhap)

No discussion on Huawei issue during the S. Korea – China meeting

Faradita Prayusti
Politics & Economic
Economic
Jun 20, 2019
2064
On Wednesday, South Korea and China held the 23rd Joint Economic Committee in Seoul to expand the nations’ cooperation in economic sectors. Korea was represented by the Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho and China's Assistant Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang spoke on behalf of the country.

During the meeting, both of the representatives discussed how to enhance the economic bilateral on personnel and cultural exchanges, without saying a single word about Huawei issue. A ministry official mentioned that the issue would not be on the list to be discussed.

In the opening, Minister Lee said he hoped the partnership between South Korea and China will move to another stage through strengthening personnel, environmental and cultural exchanges, according to pool reports. The discussion would focus on the long-term economic development in both countries, that has been dealt with in working-level talk, Mr. Lee added.

The Trump administration in May bans Huawei forbidding US firms to work together with the company. The restriction affects the electronics industries in South Korea. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix could deal with heavy business deterioration in China if they follow the US anti-Huawei campaign, as China warned the Korea tech companies. Harry Harris, the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, "unofficially" pushed South Korean companies to stop using Huawei’s 5G network devices.

Due to the situation, the foreign ministry of South Korea organized a special task force to observe the anti-Huawei campaign the investigate its effect for tech business in Korea.

Tuesday’s meeting was the first joint economic meeting in 2019 since the last meeting in Beijing a year ago. The meeting wasn’t conducted by the two countries In 2017 because of China's retaliation on Korea in trade and tourism sectors following the deploying of the U.S. anti-missile system.

Source: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2019/06/356_270904.html

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