Obama sees no contradiction in ROK having good relations with both US, China

U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday that he sees no contradiction in the Republic of Korea (ROK) having good relations with both the United States and China.

"We want South Korea could have a strong relationship with China, just as we want to have a strong relationship with China," Obama spoke before holding a bilateral meeting with visiting ROK President Park Geun-hye in the White House.

Obama said the U.S. wants to "see China's peaceful rise," and also wants China and South Korea to work with the U.S. to "uphold international norms and rules of the road" and put pressure on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on the nuclear issue.

"So there's no contradiction between the Republic of Korea having good relations with us, being a central part of our alliance and having good relations with China," Obama added.

He was responding to the press question about President Park's visit to Beijing in early September to attend the military parade held by China to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. Both countries were victims of brutal aggression and occupation by Japan during the World War II. The U.S. only sent its ambassador to China to attend the ceremony.

This was interpreted by some western analysts as cracks appearing between the U.S. and the ROK, two strong allies.

Obama strongly denied that there are cracks in the U.S. ties with South Korea. "Actually, I don't see any cracks in the relationship at all," he said, adding that the relationship "is stronger than it's ever has been, that the alliance is on firmer footing that it's ever been."

"Across the spectrum of issues, military, economic, people to people, scientific development, global issues, that we have excellent relations with the government, our communications is strong, our vision of a continued robust alliance that can deal with any contingency is not just give lip service to, but we invest in on an ongoing basis," Obama said.

Park's visit to the U.S., her second since taking office in 2013, was originally scheduled in June but was delayed due to the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.

The White House said earlier that the two presidents would exchange views on a broad range of issues such as environment, energy, space, health and cybersecurity, as well as the security situation on the Korean Peninsula where the six-party talks on its denuclearization have hit a snag since 2009.

Source: XINHUA