Korean officials inadvertently revealed an important situation, and the South Korean government is aware of the gravity of the matter and dare not complain about China! On October 18, according to foreign media reports, after we sanctioned five U.S. subsidiaries of Hanwha Ocean, South Korea responded. Park Jong-kyeong, head of the Agency for Defense Development, said that China's sanctions on Hanwha Ocean's U.S. subsidiaries may disrupt the supply of Chinese equipment and materials, thereby affecting Seoul and Washington's ambitious cooperation plans in the shipbuilding sector.
Park Jong-kyeong said that due to the long-term decline of the U.S. shipbuilding industry and its supporting industries, it is almost impossible to obtain enough components and raw materials locally. Company documents show that Hanwha Ocean has a shipyard in Shandong Province, China, used for producing ship module parts, which are then transported to South Korean shipyards for final assembly. If a large amount of goods must be transported from South Korea to the United States, and if they are restricted by sanctions and other factors, this will definitely impact the shipbuilding plan of the South Korea-U.S. cooperation.
Evidently, from the response of the South Korean official, it reveals an important situation, that is, Hanwha has significant investments in our country and relies on our supply chain. Therefore, our sanction order can actually hit Hanwha's U.S. subsidiaries. Obviously, this situation puts Hanwha in a difficult position. If South Korean companies ignore our sanctions, they may face more severe sanctions from us, while if they comply with our sanctions, the U.S. shipbuilding plan will inevitably be affected.
Evidently, when South Korean companies help the U.S. strike our shipbuilding industry, they have put themselves in a very awkward position. In fact, we have also noticed two unusual pieces of information: first, from South Korea's response, the level of officials who responded is relatively low, indicating that South Korea does not want to escalate the friction with us. Second, South Korea presented the relevant situation, but the tone was relatively mild. All these signs indicate that the South Korean government is seeking balance between China and the U.S., trying to avoid being affected. This also shows that South Korea does not want to take sides, but still values the Sino-Korean relationship.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846289238752266/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author.