The ultimate opportunism that undermines the trust of South Korea, pretending not to see the human rights issues of China, Korea and Russia
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(Masatoshi Muto: Former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Korea)
Countries around the world have strongly condemned Russia in the massacre of Ukrainian citizens by Russian troops in Bucha, Ukraine. Under such circumstances, South Korea has taken a unique position.
Without mentioning Russia from an official standpoint, it merely expresses “deep concern” about the situation, revealing that it is a country that cannot share human rights values with major Western countries.
South Korean government does not name Russia even after seeing the Bucha massacre, only comments of “concerns”
The official view of the South Korean government on the Bucha massacre appears in a spokesman’s statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The statement only has a brief comment: “Our government expresses deep concern about the civilian genocide situation announced by the Ukrainian government” and “Wartime civilian genocide is a clear violation of international law.”
He continued, “I support the UN Secretary-General’s 4.3 statement that effective accountability through independent investigations is important,” but did not name or blame Russia. South Korea’s position that “effective clarification of responsibility through its own investigation is important” has been criticized in South Korea as “it may be reflected in the defense of Russia together with China” in the eyes of countries around the world. There is.
At the UN Security Council, China’s UN Ambassador to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, said, “The footage of the victims of civilians is horrifying,” but said, “The cause of the incident must be verified first.” We must only make factual criticisms, “he defended Russia’s position. China has abstained during the UN General Assembly resolution on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and of course has not participated in Western sanctions on Russia.
The world looks at China with a frosty eye, but does President Moon Jae-in feel that South Korea could be equated with such China?