China will continue to retaliate against South Korea over THAAD.

(Baonghean.vn) - Analysts believe China is likely to continue its economic retaliation against South Korea after the leaders of the two countries failed to narrow their differences surrounding the US deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in South Korea during their first face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany last week.

Analysts also expressed skepticism about whether South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Chinese President Xi Jinping will reach an agreement on THAAD at their potential meeting in August, marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations.

Professor Park Won-gon of International Relations at Handong Global University stated, "It won't be easy. It will take time." He added, "China will continue to retaliate, and the measures could become more severe."

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photo: AP

Professor Kim Hyun-wook from the Korea National Diplomatic Academy also agreed with this view and emphasized, "It will not be possible to resolve the disagreements between the two sides in a short period of time."

Professor Kim believes that President Xi's prestige would "sink" if he suddenly decided to halt sanctions against Seoul, given that he has unequivocally opposed THAAD in front of President Moon, as well as US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit. Kim stated, "With the upcoming session of the Chinese Communist Party Congress, the Chinese President may not want to do anything that could jeopardize his political career."

Sources close to South Korean businesses predict that these companies will withdraw from China if the leaders of the two countries continue to maintain a stalemate in their next meetings, potentially on August 24th.

Meanwhile, Professor Park proposed establishing an expert-level consultative body to discuss possible conditions for resolving disagreements over THAAD.

The professor stated: “For example, Seoul and Beijing, in negotiations with Washington, could formally agree to withdraw THAAD from South Korea if Pyongyang’s ballistic missile threats are reduced. And the consultative body could discuss how to determine what constitutes reduced threats from the Kim Jong-un regime.” According to him, the US should intervene in resolving this dispute between China and South Korea.

Lan Ha

(According to Korea Times)