Can China and South Korea reset complex ties after Xi-Lee summit?

In a bid to bolster their increasingly tense relations, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his South Korean counterpart Lee Jae Myung held their second summit on Monday.

Lee had hosted Xi for talks on the sidelines of the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Gyeongju.

On Sunday, it was Lee’s turn to make a trip to Beijing, starting a four-day visit – the first to China by a South Korean president since 2019.

South Korea is in a difficult position because it requires strong ties with China, a major economic partner, but Beijing’s ties to Seoul’s two strongest allies, the United States and Japan, have declined recently. Regarding Taiwan, trade tensions, and maritime claims, China and South Korea also have their own disagreements.

Why South Korea needs China

Analysts believe Lee’s visit is important because, in light of this, reports claim the president of South Korea will travel to Japan later this month, but he made the decision to visit China first.

Money is of course a big deal.

China is South Korea’s largest economic partner, its top destination for exports, and a primary source of imports.

Beijing is needed in Seoul for more than just economic reasons.

Due to its influence over North Korea and Kim Jong Un, the country’s leaders, Beijing is significant to Seoul.

The urgency of regional security was underscored by North Korea firing hypersonic missiles over the sea east of its territory just hours before Lee departed for China.

At the Xi-Lee summit, what topics were raised?

Both leaders made warm remarks at the summit on Monday. Xi emphasised that the two nations “highly prioritise the South Korea-China relationship”.

Xi’s visit to South Korea for the APEC summit marked his first as president of China since 2014. “Friends grow closer with each meeting, and neighbors grow closer with each visit,” he said. South Korea and China must communicate more frequently and communicate more effectively as friends and neighbors.

Lee echoed Xi’s sentiments.

The summit, according to Mason Richey, a professor of international politics at Seoul’s Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), was the first real “test of Lee’s ability to navigate the challenging South Korean relationship with China.

After Lee focused so heavily on the US during his first seven months in office, he told Al Jazeera, “This trip is significantly important to South Korea.”

But for all the cordial talk, “several critical, contentious issues were not addressed in any serious way”, he said. “In particular, Chinese threats to South Korea in the Yellow Sea, as well as Chinese coercion of Taiwan and the Philippines,” the authors say. Taiwan’s self-government is a priority for China, and it has no objections to imposing force on it. Beijing also held major wargames off Taiwan in December. Meanwhile, China and the Philippines have been tense relations over competing claims to South China Sea territory.

According to Lee Dong-gyu, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, “both sides [South Korea] and China] agree that economic cooperation is the best way to restore relations and promote economic growth.”

” In reality, however, it does not seem easy to find common ground in external relations or in the domains of diplomacy and security. “

North Korea

At a time when Pyongyang has shown little sign of diplomacy, Lee emphasized the importance of working with China during the 90-minute summit.

China remains North Korea’s principal ally and economic lifeline. Technically speaking, Xi promised to support the North, which is still at war with South. Kim and Xi made an appearance last year at the Beijing Victory Day military parade. Meanwhile, North Korea has dismissed Lee’s outreach, calling him a” hypocrite “and” confrontational maniac”.

In his opening remarks at the summit, Lee declared, “I will work with China to explore viable alternatives for peace on the Korean Peninsula so that both countries can jointly contribute to peace, the fundamental foundation of prosperity and growth.

Although it was not directly mentioned about North Korea’s nuclear weapons, Xi said that the two nations “have significant responsibilities in preserving regional peace and promoting global development, and share broad common interests.”

South Korea’s national security adviser Wi Sung Lac told reporters that” the two leaders underscored the importance of resuming dialogue with North Korea, “and said Lee and Xi had agreed to hold annual meetings and expand communication among defence authorities to” build mutual trust and contribute to regional peace and stability”.

Taiwan maintains its silence

Lee stated in an interview with the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV last week that South Korea believed in “respecting the one China principle,” which dictates that nations must work with Beijing without retaliating diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

However, he has previously advocated a more balanced stance, arguing that South Korea should not directly engage militarily over the Taiwan Strait, a conflict between two outside states.

Following statements made by Sanae Takaichi, the country’s prime minister, in November, the situation has become more sensitive. She warned that Tokyo might have an “existential crisis” if a fabled Chinese attack on Taiwan. China-Japan tensions soared as Beijing accused her of interfering in its internal affairs. Japan was advised to travel to China, and the nation suspended some of its imports.

Xi advised Lee that “both countries, with broad common interests, should stand firmly on the right side of history and make the wise decisions.” “Direct mentions of Taiwan were absent from discussions.

Instead, Xi cited the Chinese and Korean history of enduring Japan’s support during World War II: “More than 80 years ago, China and South Korea made significant national sacrifices and triumphed over Japan militarism,” according to Chinese state media Xinhua.

In a clear reference to Japan’s early 20th-century colonial expansion, Lee also noted that the two neighboring nations have maintained friendly ties for thousands of years and have historically fought for independence.

US countermeasures

South Korea must maintain a delicate balance, according to analysts, despite the apparent bonhomie on display in Beijing.

In addition to conducting joint exercises close to the South China Sea, where Chinese territorial claims have long been contested, the US is expanding its military presence in the Asia Pacific. It is strengthening ties with nations like South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines.

South Korea hosts the largest US military base in Asia with roughly 28, 500 soldiers stationed there.

Lee will ultimately prefer the US over China because he has no choice, neither domestically nor internationally, where China is very unpopular, according to Richey of HUFS.

South Korea and the US made a contract to build nuclear-powered submarines in November. This came after the US lowered tariffs on South Korean products in exchange for $350bn in US industrial investments and cooperation on the” Make American Shipbuilding Great Again “initiative, aimed at countering China’s dominance in the sector.

Although this topic was not raised at the summit, China has previously expressed concern about South Korea acquiring nuclear weapons.

China may seek common ground with South Korea in relation to the Korean Peninsula and regional security in order to counteract US-widened growth, according to Lee Dong-gyu of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

” This is especially true in the period of the Trump administration when the US is increasingly demanding greater responsibility and contributions from its Asian allies to its containment of China. China may try to restart relations with South Korea in light of this circumstance to slack off US-led efforts in the area, he said.

China uses its regional allies to keep pressing on China, he said, especially during the Trump administration’s time of increasing US presence in the region.

South China Sea drama

Additionally, the summit addressed contentious maritime issues, particularly those relating to Beijing’s steel structures in the Yellow Sea, a shallow water body between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, which are jointly managed.

Concerns about territorial assertiveness in the South and East China Seas persist despite Beijing’s claim that the area contains steel structures for fish farming.

Both sides agreed that turning the Yellow Sea into” a peaceful and co-prosperous sea “is essential for stable, long-term relations and that they would continue” constructive “consultations, South Korea’s national security adviser Wi Sung Lak said. Additionally, they agreed to hold maritime boundary vice-ministerial discussions within the current year.

shared economic prosperity

Lee was accompanied by heads of South Korean conglomerates, including Samsung, SK Group, and LG, as the two sides signed 14 memorandums of understanding in trade, technology, and environmental areas.

The majority of South Korea’s rare earth minerals, which are crucial for the production of semiconductors, are produced in China. Seoul’s largest market, which exports chips annually, accounts for a third of that country’s total.

Meanwhile, Chinese firm Huawei plans to launch its Ascend 950 AI chips in South Korea next year, providing an alternative to US-based Nvidia for Korean firms, CEO Balian Wang said.

South Korea attracts the most foreign visitors from China.

Due to Yoon’s closer ties with the US and the growing US-China conflict, South Korea-China relations were strained under former president Yoon Suk Yeol. But in an era of Trump’s tariffs, Seoul is seeking more of a balance between security ties with Washington and economic links with Beijing.

At a bilateral business forum prior to his summit with Xi, Lee said, “South Korea and China are like ships sailing in the same direction.

Continuation of cultural exchanges

The two leaders discussed repairing cultural ties to improve access to Korean entertainment content in China, which has been subject to unofficial bans, despite Beijing’s refusal to formally acknowledge them.

However, Kang Hoon Sik, the president’s chief of staff in South Korea, stated in an interview that Beijing was unlikely to soon lift the informal ban.

And while their leaders might have exchanged warm words, the mood on the streets of China and South Korea isn’t very favourable for strong ties, point out analysts, citing anti-China rallies in South Korea and reports referring to anti-Korean sentiment in China.

Lee and Xi made an effort this week to highlight a different side to bilateral relations, though.

Lee used a Chinese-produced Xiaomi smartphone that Xi gave him last year to take a selfie of the presidential couples, including a smiling Xi, after a state banquet.

Source: Aljazeera