According to LightReading, the conference call between Lee Tae-ho, the second official of the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and US Deputy Secretary of State Keith Klahe was not smooth. According to Yonhap News Agency, a South Korean Foreign Ministry official said that when the topic of Washington’s Clean Network initiative was raised, the meeting became a little stiff.

The initiative calls on “all freedom-loving” countries (in the words of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo) to bar Chinese suppliers from accessing their critical telecommunications infrastructure. A South Korean official said: “We make it clear that whether a private telecommunications company uses equipment from a specific company is up to the company to decide.” The official also added in a diplomatic vague manner, “About the general security risks that 5G technology brings in the telecommunications market. We agree to work closely with the US on technical issues.”

The two countries talked about the importance of clean networks and the issues required by the United States. According to a South Korean official, how long South Korea can maintain its position is questionable, especially if the economic relationship between the two countries becomes tense.

Among the three major mobile network operators in South Korea, LG Uplus, the smallest in scale, is the most vulnerable to the Huawei ban called by the United States. The US State Department stated that rivals SK Telecom and KT are “clean” because they do not use Chinese suppliers in their 5G networks (although these two operators use Huawei equipment for their fixed phones).

The US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Networks and International Communication and Information Policy Robert Strell urged LG Uplus to cooperate with “trusted suppliers” and kick Huawei away in a press event. On the other hand, Huawei has always firmly denied that its 5G equipment threatens national security.