A relevant official from the South Korean presidential office stated on the 16th that the Lee Jae-myung administration has decided to standardize the official mention order of the three Northeast Asian countries to the most commonly used formulation: 'Korea-China-Japan.'
During former President Yoon Suk-yeol's term, the official order was not unified, and both 'Korea-China-Japan' and 'Korea-Japan-China' were used interchangeably.
An official from the presidential office said that using both expressions simultaneously sparked unnecessary controversy over being 'closer to a certain country.'
A related government official said that former President Yoon began referring to the trio as 'Korea-Japan-China' starting from his attendance at the ASEAN summit held in September 2023.
Some believe that, as the South Korean government seeks to improve its relationship with China, unifying the official order of the three Northeast Asian countries as 'Korea-China-Japan' can be seen as a 'mild approach toward China and a tougher stance toward Japan' under President Lee Jae-myung's pragmatic diplomatic orientation.
Another presidential office official pointed out that the previous administration practiced ideology-based diplomacy and excessively leaned toward Japan, and that steering it back on track is the right direction.