Selfies and smiles: South Korea seeks ‘new phase’ in ties with China

BBC:

South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung has called for a “new phase” in ties with China as he met its leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday.

Regional security and lifting Beijing’s unofficial ban on Korean pop culture is high on Lee’s agenda, as he continues his four-day trip in China. He is set to meet China’s Premier Li Qiang and the chairman of parliament, Zhao Leji on Tuesday.

It marks the first visit by a South Korean leader since 2019. Bilateral ties had soured under Lee’s predecessor, impeached ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol, who was very critical of China.

Xi, meanwhile, has appeared keen to shore up ties with South Korea amid a diplomatic row between China and Japan.

South Korea is a US security ally – like Japan – but also relies on China for trade. Experts say Lee is expected to keep walking a diplomatic tightrope between Beijing and Tokyo.

The visit marks the second time the two leaders have met since November when Xi visited South Korea for a regional economic summit.

On Monday Lee stated that the visit was “a crucial opportunity” for the “full-scale restoration of South Korea-China relations”, reported South Korean newspaper Chosun. “We want to usher in a new phase in the development of South Korea-China relations.”

Government officials and companies from both countries signed a series of cooperation agreements on technology, trade and environment.

Lee also took selfies with Xi, using a Xiaomi phone that the Chinese president had gifted him last year.

“The image quality is certainly good, right?” Lee posted on X along with the photos.

Later, at a banquet for Lee in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Xi urged the South Korean leader noted that the “international situation is becoming more turbulent and complex”.

The dinner followed the US’s capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro over the weekend.

Xi urged Lee to “firmly stand on the right side of history and make correct strategic choices”, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported.

He also brought up the two countries’ shared history of resisting Japan militarism, saying that China and South Korea should now “work hand in hand to safeguard the outcomes of the victory of World War Two and uphold peace and stability in Northeast Asia”.

Xi’s eagerness to meet Lee signals the pressure he faces in finding a regional ally, Park Seung-chan, professor of China studies at Yongin University told the BBC.

“China may beat around the bush but its demand is clear: side with China and denounce Japan.”

During his four-day trip to China, Lee is expected to hold a memorial service in Shanghai for activists who fought for Korea’s independence from Japan.

But while South Korea is “still showing all its deference towards China”, it wants to “strengthen its relationships with both Japan and China”, Mr Park said.

Lee is reportedly planning to visit Japan later this month to meet Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

The Japanese leader has come under fire from Beijing for suggesting in parliament that Tokyo could respond with its own self-defence forces in case of a Chinese attack on Taiwan, the self-governed island that China claims as its territory.