South Korea's foreign minister met his Russian and Chinese counterparts on Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference amid the controversy over the deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system on the Korean Peninsula.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and discussed key issues between the two countries including economic cooperation. Yun also met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi separately.
Pundits said Yun discussed the controversial deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system with his counterparts, and highlighted that the battery is only intended to protect the country from North Korea.
Yun also asked China to take "appropriate measures" in relation to Beijing's recent curbs on South Korean businesses and cultural products in an apparent retaliation against Seoul's missile shield plan.
"Recently, there has been (China's) regulation on economic, cultural, personnel exchanges, and even the art sector. We requested the Chinese government to take appropriate measures," Yun said.
Yun said he highlighted that withdrawing such retaliatory actions are in line with the Chinese government's latest protest against protectionism.
"We also shared ideas on the latest launch of a missile by North Korea. We reached an agreement on thoroughly carrying out the U.N. security council's resolution," Yun said.
South Korea has been seeking to deploy the THAAD battery to better cope with North Korean provocations. Beijing and Moscow, however, have been expressing concern over the presence of the U.S. battery on the Korean Peninsula. (Yonhap)