[Newsmaker] Vice FM hints at Seoul veering away from diplomatic boycott of Beijing Games

First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun (Yonhap)

South Korea is seeking to play its “role as the previous host nation” of the Winter Olympics, First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun said Thursday, alluding Seoul will less likely join the US in a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Games. 

Choi made the remarks during an interview with local radio station TBS, stressing that the upcoming Beijing Olympics is a “relay of Northeast Asian Olympics from PyeongChang to Tokyo and Beijing and is very meaningful.”
His remarks suggest that Seoul is tilting toward opting out in a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games slated for February 4 to 20. But he clarified that the “government has not yet made any decisions.”

On Wednesday, a senior Cheong Wa Dae official said that the government is not reviewing a diplomatic boycott and that no decision has been made on whether government representatives will attend the Games. 

The UK and Canada have become the latest nations to impose a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games on Wednesday, following a similar announcement made by the US and Australia earlier this week, citing China’s human rights abuses. 

This means their athletes will still compete, but the countries will not send their government delegation to the event. 

Observers say Washington could further press its ally Seoul to join its lead. But officials here noted that while the US had notified South Korea in advance of its boycott decision, it said it’s up to the country to decide on the matter. 

The widening boycott could further test Seoul’s tough balancing act amid the intensifying rivalry between its security ally Washington and key trade partner Beijing. With the boycotts risking further straining ties between Western countries and China, South Korea is facing increasing pressure to choose between the two superpowers. 

The boycott is also dealing a blow to Seoul’s hope to use the Beijing event as an occasion to revive the long-stalled diplomacy with Pyongyang, replicating similar success from the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics — which set the stage for renewed relations between the US and North Korea, as well as between the two Koreas. Seoul has been also eyeing the Beijing Games as a potential chance for progress in South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s proposal to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, together with the leaders of North Korea, the US and China. But without Washington’s participation, coupled with Pyongyang’s earlier decisions to drop out from the Beijing Games on COVID-19 concerns, a diplomatic breakthrough appears to be difficult.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)

[Newsmaker] Vice FM hints at Seoul veering away from diplomatic boycott of Beijing Games
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