ANKARA

South Korea “is not considering” a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics slated for next February, the country’s president said on Monday.

"Regarding a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, we have not been asked by the United States or any other nation to join (the boycott)," Yonhap News Agency quoted the Moon Jae-in as saying at a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Last week, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the US will not send any diplomatic or official representations to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics or Paralympics, citing “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses.”

On Tuesday, China accused the US of “trying to disrupt” the Beijing Winter Olympics and said "Beijing will take firm countermeasures".

“The US is trying to disrupt the Beijing Winter Olympics out of its ideological bias, lies and rumors,” Zhao Lijian, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, told a news conference in Beijing.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid