S. Korea conveys concern over China's claim to ancient kingdom

Asian Political News, August 30, 2004

SEOUL, Aug. 23 Kyodo

South Korea on Monday conveyed its concern to China over China's claim to an ancient Korean kingdom, Yonhap News Agency reported.

In a meeting with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, Vice Foreign Minister Choi Young Jin said any Chinese attempt to lay claim to Koguryo, an ancient Korean kingdom, will never be pardoned, Yonhap said, citing South Korean officials.

Wu, who was named vice foreign minister for Asian affairs last Friday after a stint as ambassador to Japan, arrived in Seoul on an unpublicized trip Sunday for talks with South Korean officials, Yonhap said.

In talks with Choi, Wu presented the Chinese government's offer to resolve the dispute, but the details on the proposal were not available, Yonhap said.

The dispute began early this year when China abruptly claimed that Koguryo, which controlled the upper part of the Korean Peninsula and much of what is today's Manchuria in China from 37 B.C. to A.D. 668, is part of its history.

In April, the Chinese Foreign Ministry deleted references to Koguryo from pages on Korean history in its website.

The Chinese move unleashed a storm of criticism in South Korea.

Wu is to meet with South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki Moon later Monday.

''Wu is expected to express his government's position that it doesn't want the Koguryo dispute to worsen its relations with South Korea and intends to settle the problem in a future-oriented manner,'' a South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry official was quoted as saying by Yonhap.