Reference News Network, November 16 report - According to the Yonhap News Agency, on November 16, a person related to the South Korean presidential office said in an interview with Yonhap that the presidential office has decided to unify the official expression of the Northeast Asian three countries as "South Korea-China-Japan," because this expression is the most widely used, thus eliminating unnecessary controversies.
The report states that during the previous government period, the official expression of the Northeast Asian three countries was not unified, with both "South Korea-Japan-China" and "South Korea-China-Japan" being used simultaneously, which led to unnecessary disputes about "being closer to a certain country." A government official stated that before the previous government, the expression "South Korea-China-Japan" was the most common. However, the Yoon Suk-yeol government of the previous administration began to use "South Korea-Japan-China" after attending the ASEAN Summit in September 2023. A senior official of the presidential office at the time stated that since the establishment of the Yoon Suk-yeol government, South Korea has maintained a closer cooperation with the United States and Japan based on values and freedom.
The report believes that this move can be seen as one of the indirect gestures of goodwill towards China, given that the current Lee Jae-myung government is seeking to improve relations with China. Some opinions suggest that the previous government, based on a foreign policy biased toward Japan, excluded China and lost actual interests, while the current government is pursuing improved relations with China through a pragmatic and realistic foreign policy. Another presidential office official explained that one of the core aspects of diplomacy is balance; the previous government pursued ideological diplomacy, overemphasizing Japan, and returning it to its original correct direction was the right approach.
Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7573253246597235242/
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