
Members of a conservative civic group prepare a pro-Japan rally near the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, May 7, 2023.
The banner reads “Welcome! Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida”.
14:57 JST, May 8, 2023
BEIJING (Reuters) – The Global Times, a hawkish Chinese state media tabloid, on Monday criticised a letter of protest sent to it by South Korea’s embassy in China, the latest public spat amid worsening ties between the Asian neighbours.
The South Korean embassy “expressed strong regret over a series of unreasonable slanderous articles” from the Global Times, in a letter of protest published Friday on its website.
The articles “use sensational, provocative and inappropriate vocabulary to denigrate not only our leader but also the Korean government’s foreign policy,” the letter said.
In its editorial, the Global Times slammed the embassy’s “brutal interference in (its) independent reporting”.
Coming a day after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a landmark visit to Seoul, the editorial warned South Korea’s recent diplomatic push towards Japan and the U.S. will “induce and aggravate the … collapse of the situation in Northeast Asia”.
It is rare for foreign embassies stationed in China to publicly criticise the reporting of Chinese state media outlets.
South Korea’s embassy in China did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Global Times, known for its nationalist rhetoric, has repeatedly attacked South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for “blindly following the U.S.” after his visit there late last month, and accused Seoul of bringing further tension to the Korean Peninsula due to its growing security ties with Japan and the U.S.
Sunday’s visit by Kishida, the first by a Japanese leader to Seoul in 12 years, is a sign of warming relations between South Korea and Japan as both U.S. allies have sought to close a chapter on the historical disputes that have dogged the relationship for decades.
In a similar incident last December, China’s ambassador in South Korea criticised Korean media for stoking anti-China sentiment.
"News Services" POPULAR ARTICLE
-
UPDATE2: Four Japanese Self-Defense Forces members injured in explosion at U.S. Kadena Air Base in Japan’s Okinawa
-
Liberal Lee Jae-Myung Projected to Win South Korea Election Overshadowed by Martial Law Crisis
-
Shooter Kills At Least Nine in Attack on Austrian School, Mayor Says
-
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average Rises on Weaker Yen, Easing Worries about Trade Tensions
-
House Republicans Pass Trump’s Big Bill of Tax Breaks and Program Cuts after All-Night Session
JN ACCESS RANKING
-
Toyoda to Become Automobile Business Association of Japan Chairman; to Help Guide U.S. Tariff-Affected Industriessns
-
Advance Payments for 2025 Rice Foretell Rising Prices; Big Buyers Moving Early; Farmers Spurred to Grow More
-
Visitors to Japan Hit Single-Month Record High in April
-
Japanese Researchers Develop ‘Transparent Paper’ as Alternative to Plastics; New Material Is Biodegradable, Can Be Produced with Low Carbon Emissions
-
Japan to Introduce Car Fuel with Up to 10% Biofuels from Fiscal 2028; Limited Rollout Expected at Areas with Refineries