South Korea's President won't meet Nancy Pelosi as office says 'he's on summer holidays'

After concluding her high-profile visit to Taiwan by renewing Washington’s ironclad commitment to defending democracy on the self-governing island despite vehement protests from China, US Speaker Nancy Pelosi would be meeting officials of South Korea in her next stop. She will speak with South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol by phone as he will not be meeting with Pelosi in person, according to Yoon’s office. 

As per the President's office, Yoon is currently on holiday and confirmed no face-to-face meeting has been arranged between them. Notably, Yoon took office in May this year, with a pledge of boosting South Korea's military alliance with the US in order to deal with North Korea's unprecedented provocations. Despite this, he chose to continue his holiday trip, skipping a meeting with the top US officials.

It is crucial to note here that the Chinese government had warned Taiwan of a dramatic situation over allowing Pelosi to visit Taipei. It sent 27 aircraft to Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) hours after Pelosi's plane left Taipei. Despite the staunch warning of any untoward situation, the US Speaker visited the country and left for America on Wednesday. On the other hand, the US Speaker issued a statement describing her tour as a "strong statement that America stands with Taiwan." She said that visit is part of broader travels in the Indo-Pacific, focused on security, prosperity and governance - on which Taiwan is a global leader.

Pelosi will also visit the inter-Korean border area

After concluding her visit to Taiwan, the US Speaker and other members of Congress flew to South Korea on Wednesday evening as part of their Asian tour After Seoul, they will travel to Japan.  According to the itinerary released by Seoul, the US Speaker will meet South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin Pyo and other senior members of Parliament. She will be talking about regional security, economic cooperation and climate issues. Besides, a South Korean official told AP News Agency on the condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorised to speak to the media on the matter, she will also be visiting the inter-Korean border area that is jointly controlled by the American-led U.N. Command and North Korea.

China continue to lecture US over Pelosi's Taiwan visit

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying dubbed Pelosi's visit "unhealthy" for "democracy" and added her visit only provoked and violated China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. "What Pelosi has done is definitely not a defence and maintenance of democracy, but a provocation and violation of China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. While Pelosi is the one performing this grandstanding act, it is the China-US relationship and the peace and stability in the region that is taking their toll," Chunying said after her departure. 

Image: AP