Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se struggled Thursday to assure opposition lawmakers that President Park Geun-hye's recent trip to China was fruitful in drumming up Beijing's support for Seoul's approach toward Pyongyang.
In an annual parliamentary audit of the ministry's work, the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy claimed the Park administration is overstating the results of her visit last week to attend China's World War II anniversary event.
Rep. Won Hye-young asked the minister if Park and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed in their summit to "cooperate" on the reunification of the two Koreas. He was citing an earlier government statement.
Yun was equivocal.
"Discussions on unification, along with the North Korean nuclear issue, provocation, and peace issues, have been under way naturally on various levels, including the summit between the two sides, since (President Park's) state visit to China in 2013," he said. "The unification matter is in the direction of being discussed in a natural and frank manner."
Yun said it would be impossible to peacefully reunify the two Koreas without denuclearizing the North.
He reaffirmed that the government is not seeking any absorption-based unification.
Rep. Shin Kyoung-min of the NPAD also took issue with the government's own assessment of the outcome of the latest Park-Xi summit, saying it is "filled with self-praise" and diplomatic rhetoric despite no breakthrough in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.
In fact, there is no difference from the results of their previous summit two years ago that called for the early resumption of the six-way nuclear talks and the North to refrain from taking provocative acts, he argued.
In response, Yun simply said the government's statement on the summit "considerably reflects the actual content and mood of the summit talks."
Defending Yun from the opposition party's criticism, Rep. Won Yoo-chul of the ruling Saenuri Party said the president bore a lot of fruits through her talks with Xi, including a deal to continue dialogue and cooperation on political, military, economic and security issues.
Rep. Lee Ju-young of the ruling party pointed out that Park's decision itself to attend a massive military parade in Beijing drew largely positive public feedback.
Many say it has paved the way for South Korea to balance its ties with China and its alliance with the United States. A number of media outlets agreed that Seoul's diplomacy on regional powers has entered a new path.
"Nonetheless, we need to continue diplomatic efforts in a calm way, bearing in mind that diplomatic accomplishments tend to come out gradually, rather than immediately, after any summit talks," Lee said.
Rep. Choi Jae-cheon of the opposition NPAD questioned China's role in bringing lasting peace to the Korean Peninsula.
He recalled a 2013 opinion poll by a local private think tank showing 25 percent of Koreans view China as the biggest obstacle to unification, while only 19.1 percent picked North Korea.
"We should be very prudent and strategic in treating China as a cooperation partner for peaceful unification," Choi said. "In particular, China is a signatory to the Armistice Agreement."
The minister said China is expected to play a "constructive role" in promoting peace on the peninsula.
South Korea is leaving the door open for consultations with China and other relevant nations on the issue of eventually replacing the 1953 armistice with a peace treaty, Yun said, adding that there should first be some progress in denuclearization efforts. (Yonhap)
