China And South Korea Urgently Need To Break The Deadlock And Return To Normalcy

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On Jan. 27 this year, South Korea’s Central Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said it would extend the suspension of issuing short-term visas to South Korea for Chinese citizens until Feb. 28.

This is a continuation of the storm surrounding the epidemic testing between China and South Korea. Frankly speaking, the China-Korea epidemic testing controversy is a “lose-lose” event.

It started when South Korea imposed discriminatory entry restrictions on Chinese citizens shortly after China liberalized its epidemic control in December last year, triggering a counter-measure from the Chinese side due to concerns about the spread of the epidemic in China. Since then, the self-respecting South Korea has engaged in further countermeasures, which have led to the present situation.

The matter became embarrassing as the epidemic infection in China quickly subsided. Korea’s Central Epidemic Control Countermeasures Headquarters released data on February 4 that the positive rate of new crown landing tests for travelers arriving from China that day was zero. This is the first time in more than a month since South Korea implemented landing tests for new coronas for short-stay visitors entering from China.

A senior diplomat from the Korean Embassy in Beijing said on Feb. 6 that the COVID-19 in China tends to stabilize, so the issue cannot negatively affect China-South Korea relations and hoped that the current situation caused by the epidemic prevention measures can be alleviated by the end of February.

Earlier, on Jan. 31, in response to the extension of the suspension of short-term visa issuance to Chinese citizens until the end of February, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said that he would consider shortening the visa suspension period depending on the situation. He also noted that the ROK will give a full explanation to the Chinese side and maintain communication with them regarding decisions involving visa issues.

As neighbors with important economic and trade relations, China and South Korea are now in a deadlock over the epidemic detection issue, which is more than worth the loss.

Now that the wave of infections in China has subsided, it is urgent for China and South Korea to break the deadlock on epidemic testing, lift the restrictions and resume normal relations as soon as possible. The world has been working normally for a long time, and for China and South Korea to still be fighting is too far behind the reality! For the South Korean government, don’t keep looking at what the U.S.’s face. Look at the progress of the restoration of trade and economic relations between China and Australia, there should be a sense of urgency.