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SEOUL — After a year of frosty diplomacy and economic pressure, South Korea and China announced Tuesday that they would put aside their differences out of a joint desire to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the two countries will resume normal relations. “The two sides attach great importance to the Korea-China relationship,” a statement from the ministry said.
In its own coordinated statement, China’s Foreign Ministry said the two nations would work to put their relationship back on a normal track “as soon as possible.”
China and South Korea have historically deep ties and over the past few decades had enjoyed a close relationship. However, that relationship was deeply damaged last July when Seoul agreed to install the U.S.-owned Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense platform on its land.
Though both Seoul and Washington argued the THAAD system had only defensive capabilities, Beijing was concerned about U.S. encirclement as well as the system’s sophisticated radar capabilities.
Chinese President Xi Jinping was also angered that former South Korean president Park Geun-hye had sided with American interests over China, said Yun Sun, a senior associate with the East Asia Program at the Stimson Center.
“Xi had tried to sway South Korea’s alignment choice, and when Park rejected China’s demand not to deploy THAAD, it made Xi’s great diplomacy on South Korea a failure and an embarrassment,” Sun said in an email this weekend.
When the missile system was deployed earlier this year, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, warned that Beijing would “resolutely take necessary measures to defend our security interests.”
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry acknowledged that the THAAD dispute had not been fully resolved. “The two sides agreed to engage in communication on THAAD-related issues about which the Chinese side is concerned through communication between their military authorities,” it said in a statement.
For its part, China confirmed Tuesday that its position on THAAD had not changed.
And on Sunday, South Korea’s military chief met with his American and Japanese counterparts, as part of a growing three-way dialogue.
China is South Korea’s largest trading partner, and it used this economic clout to punish Korean businesses when the antimissile system was deployed. Trips by Chinese tour groups to South Korea were suspended, with the number of Chinese visitors dropping 60 percent in the first nine months of the year compared with 2016, according to figures released by the Bank of Korea.
Korean-owned businesses also suffered boycotts and bans in China. The situation was especially difficult for the Lotte conglomerate, which had allowed its land to be used for the installation of the THAAD system. Last month, it announced it would be selling off its supermarkets in China after most were shut down for fire code violations and other alleged infractions.
President Moon Jae-in’s new South Korean government had recently made a number of moves to ease China’s anxiety over THAAD, with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha announcing last week that South Korea would not seek any more deployments of the system. The moves had been received warmly in China’s state-run press, with the nationalist Global Times newspaper saying that the “proactive” stance of Moon’s government was “a new gesture that is welcomed.”
Choi Kang, vice president of the Seoul think tank Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said that South Korea had not offered any real concessions on the issue. “Since South Korea has maintained a very firm position on THAAD, the Chinese side decided to move instead,” Kang said.
Instead, North Korea and other factors may have led to the agreement between the two nations, which came after the Chinese Party Congress that saw Xi consolidate his power over the country and exactly a week before President Trump arrives in South Korea as part of a 12-day Asia trip.
China is keen to restart relations with South Korea under Moon, said Sun, as he has signaled that he is seeking an independent policy and is open to talks with North Korea, a long-standing ally of Beijing. “When the relationship with President Park was beyond repair for China, Moon gives China new hope,” Sun wrote.
However, Kang said that the two sides still had different outlooks on the region that could lead to more disputes. China and South Korea felt the “necessity to manage their bilateral relations for different reasons, not for common objectives and concerns,” Kang said. “The conflict is not over yet.”
North Korea’s provocations have prompted other shifts in the Pacific, as well. In one example, the senior military officials from the United States, South Korea and Japan are incrementally increasing collective ballistic missile defense, despite strained relations between South Korea and Japan that date back to Japan’s invasion of the Korean Peninsula during World War II.
On Sunday, Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with his South Korean counterpart, Gen. Jeong Kyeong-doo, and their Japanese equivalent, Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano, at the sun-drenched headquarters of U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii.
The Japanese and South Korean defense chiefs have narrowly increased military dialogue with each other as it relates to North Korea, meeting five times since July 2014 in three-party talks with Dunford and his predecessor, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey. On Sunday, the agreed to hold quarterly missile defense exercises in 2018, Dunford said.
Dunford said that the discussions between South Korea and Japan are important for a couple of reasons.
“Number one, from a deterrence perspective, it’s important that Kim Jong Un and [North Korea] see that they are facing a collective response from the international community, and in particular, those nations most affected,” Dunford said. “And number two, if we do have to respond, Japan is a critical ally that the United States is going to need to meet its alliance commitments. We have over 50,000 forces in Japan. It is a platform from which we would project power in any South Korean response.”
Simon Denyer in Beijing and Dan Lamothe in Washington contributed to this report.
Read more:
Why China is so mad about THAAD, a missile system aimed at North Korea
South Korea suspends deployment of missile defense system
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Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore met with the Senate GOP caucus on Tuesday, putting him face to face with the Republican establishment that he has railed against for months.
Moore, a former state judge, stopped by the party’s closed-door lunch, which is also attended by Vice President Pence, as part of a whirlwind tour of Capitol Hill.
The powwow marked the biggest indicator to date of establishment Republicans moving to accept Moore ahead of a special election in December to fill the seat vacated when Jeff SessionsJefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsDallas Morning News: Cornyn ‘betrays’ GOP by backing Roy Moore Overnight Regulation: Trump declares opioids a public health emergency | Mark Kelly lobbied Scalise on guns | Warren rips plans to ease bank oversight | Coal industry advocate tapped for mining regulator Bipartisan groups call on DOJ to scrutinize ATT-Time Warner merger MORE joined the Trump administration as attorney general.
Moore defeated Sen. Luther StrangeLuther Johnson StrangeSasse: Alabama Senate race looks ‘crappy to me’ Moore signs fundraising agreement with RNC, NRSC: report Cruz throws support behind Roy Moore in Alabama Senate race MORE (R-Ala.) during a heated primary fight in September. The battle pitted former White House strategist Stephen Bannon against most GOP senators including Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellGOP Senate hopeful rips McConnell for ‘smearing’ conservatives Overnight Finance: House adopts Senate budget, taking step to tax reform | GOP worries Trump feuds will endanger tax plan | Trump talks NAFTA withdrawal with senators | Treasury calls for looser oversight of insurers Trump’s Senate oversight holiday must end MORE (Ky.) as well as President Trump, who supported Strange.
Republicans said after the closed-door meeting Tuesday that Moore didn’t speak much during the lunch, beyond introducing himself.
“He said a few words, spoke to me. … He was very professional,” Sen. Richard ShelbyRichard Craig ShelbyInside Trump’s meeting with Senate GOP Republicans walking tightrope ahead of budget resolution vote Senate starts debate on budget, pushing forward with tax reform MORE (R-Ala.) told reporters.
Asked about his meeting with the caucus, a spokesman for the Senate GOP leader noted that “candidates traditionally attend a policy lunch after they become the nominee” but declined to describe any interactions.
A spokesman for Moore’s campaign declined to say who else Moore met with on Tuesday, except to note that he was meeting with other senators.
Despite actively opposing Moore during the GOP primary race, outside groups and Republicans are increasingly rallying around Moore ahead of the December special election.
As the Republican, Moore has long been expected to win in the deep-red state. But more recent polls have proved surprisingly close, with the RealClearPolitics polling index currently putting Moore up only 6 points over Democrat Doug Jones.
Moore’s visit to Capitol Hill wasn’t without controversy, with some of his potential colleagues unwilling to fully embrace him given his past rhetoric.
“I’ll examine his entire record before I decide. … I’ll have to see what he has to say about his positions, and examine his record,” McCain told reporters when asked if he supported Moore.
Sen. Jeff FlakeJeffrey (Jeff) Lane FlakeGOP Senate hopeful rips McConnell for ‘smearing’ conservatives Dallas Morning News: Cornyn ‘betrays’ GOP by backing Roy Moore Michael Steele: Trump’s feud between Flake and others is personal, not political MORE (R-Ariz.), who is retiring after 2018, went after Moore during a Senate floor speech roughly an hour after the party’s lunch.
Flake echoed other’s criticism of Moore, a former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice who has a penchant for making controversial comments. In 2006, for example, Moore suggested that Rep. Keith EllisonKeith Maurice EllisonFlake says he won’t back Roy Moore, citing Muslim remark DNC, Wasserman Schultz say they were unaware of dossier payments GOP seizes on new Clinton revelation MORE (D-Minn.), the first Muslim elected to the House, shouldn’t be allowed to serve.
“When a judge expressed his personal belief that a practicing Muslim should not be a member of Congress because of his religious faith, it was wrong. That this same judge is now my party’s nominee for the Senate from Alabama should concern us all,” Flake said.
Flake, who has said he will not support Moore, added that “religious tests have no place in the United States Congress. Standing up for people of faith, whether Muslim or Catholic, who are facing unfair prejudice should be an act of basic conscience that should be expected of all of us, regardless of party.”
Moore’s stop by the GOP lunch put Republicans in an awkward position of facing questions about Moore while they simultaneously tried to criticize Democrats for questioning the nomination of Amy Barrett, a nominee for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, because of her religious beliefs.
Ellison, weighing in on the judicial vote, questioned if Republicans “know they’ve stood by a Senate candidate who thinks I shouldn’t be able to serve in Congress, simply because of my faith?”
And Senate Democrats quickly seized on Moore’s lunch attendance, with Sen. Brian SchatzBrian Emanuel SchatzDems to introduce bill barring Trump from preemptive strikes without Congress approval Overnight Health Care: Judge won’t force Trump to make ObamaCare payments | CBO says bipartisan health bill would reduce deficit by B | Trump won’t set ObamaCare sign-up goal The Hill’s 12:30 Report MORE (D-Hawaii) calling Moore a “true moral danger.”
Pressed how they squared their criticism of Democrats with their support for Moore given his previous comments, Sen. John CornynJohn CornynAdvocates pan Trump effort on opioid crisis Dallas Morning News: Cornyn ‘betrays’ GOP by backing Roy Moore Overnight Finance: House adopts Senate budget, taking step to tax reform | GOP worries Trump feuds will endanger tax plan | Trump talks NAFTA withdrawal with senators | Treasury calls for looser oversight of insurers MORE (R-Texas) noted this was one issue where most Senate Republicans would disagree with the candidate.
“I think just because you’re a member of a political party doesn’t mean you agree 100 percent,” Cornyn, who endorsed Moore last week, told reporters. “So I would disagree with that statement and I dare say if you asked each one of the members up here, what they would feel about that, they would say the same thing.”
Sen. Orrin HatchOrrin Grant HatchOvernight Cybersecurity: Lawmakers grill Trump officials over Kaspersky threat | Trump camp distances itself from data firm | What we know about Bad Rabbit | Conservative groups back data privacy bill Right-leaning groups back international data privacy bill Overnight Health Care: Bipartisan health plan faces new challenge from conservatives MORE (R-Utah) noted that he would support Moore as the GOP candidate and that he was a “nice guy.”
But pressed about his comments on homosexuals and Muslims serving in Congress, Hatch laughed before adding: “Well I have trouble with those [comments].”
Moore appeared to walk back some of his previous remarks on Tuesday, arguing that a “religious test” was unconstitutional.
“There should be no religious test, no. That’s against the Constitution,” Moore told reporters as he walked through the Senate basement.
He also took shot at the media, noting The Washington Post endorsed his opponent and arguing that national reporters portrayed him inaccurately.
“Well I’m a lot different than what The Washington Post has been printing,” Moore told reporters. “I don’t hate people.”
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