Han media: "South Korea-Japan-China" is a thing of the past, South Korea will unify the order as "South Korea-China-Japan"!

On November 16, the South Korean media "News1" published an article stating that the Lee Jae-myung government has decided to unify the official order of the three Northeast Asian countries as "South Korea-China-Japan" in the future.

Previously, the Yoon Suk-yeol government used both "South Korea-Japan-China" and "South Korea-China-Japan", but this time it will revert to "South Korea-China-Japan", which means China will be placed before Japan.

Analysts believe that this is a measure taken by the South Korean government in the process of improving relations with China, and it is a gesture of goodwill towards China.

A senior official at the South Korean presidential office said: "We have decided to unify the spelling of the three Northeast Asian countries as 'South Korea-China-Japan'. We aim to eliminate unnecessary controversies by adopting the most commonly and widely used spelling."

He also stated: "This decision stems from the previous government's mixed spelling practices, which led to meaningless debates about 'which country we are closer to'."

He explained that before the previous government, the standard spelling for the three Northeast Asian countries was "South Korea-China-Japan".

However, after President Yoon Suk-yeol attended the ASEAN Summit in September 2023, the South Korean government began to spell the three Northeast Asian countries in the order of "South Korea-Japan-China".

A former official from the presidential office during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration explained at the time: "Since the start of this government, based on values and freedom, our cooperation with the United States and Japan has become more closely knit, so we use 'US-North Korea' instead of 'North Korea-US', and 'South Korea-Japan-China' instead of 'South Korea-China-Japan'."

Given this context, some people interpret the restoration of the "South Korea-China-Japan" spelling as a move to "calm China and take a firm stance against Japan," which aligns with President Lee Jae-myung's pragmatic foreign policy.

Some believe that the previous government's foreign policy emphasized Japan, excluded China, and lacked practicality. Therefore, the Lee Jae-myung government is trying to repair relations with China through a pragmatic diplomatic strategy, adopting a realistic attitude.

Another official from the South Korean presidential office explained: "One of the core principles of diplomacy is balance, but the previous government pursued ideological diplomacy, excessively favoring Japan. Restoring balance is the correct direction."

Asa Higashiyama made erroneous remarks on Taiwan

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1848933637939547/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author."