South Korea’s Lee Jae Myung to satisfy China’s Xi

[ad_1] Jake Kwon, Seoul correspondent and

Koh Ewe

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/f7e7/live/3eb3a980-e9cb-11f0-aa41-69d17661d288.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/f7e7/live/3eb3a980-e9cb-11f0-aa41-69d17661d288.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/f7e7/live/3eb3a980-e9cb-11f0-aa41-69d17661d288.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/f7e7/live/3eb3a980-e9cb-11f0-aa41-69d17661d288.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/f7e7/live/3eb3a980-e9cb-11f0-aa41-69d17661d288.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/f7e7/live/3eb3a980-e9cb-11f0-aa41-69d17661d288.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/f7e7/live/3eb3a980-e9cb-11f0-aa41-69d17661d288.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/f7e7/live/3eb3a980-e9cb-11f0-aa41-69d17661d288.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Getty Images Close up photo of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Getty Photos Visiting Beijing presently is a major transfer for Lee Jae Myung

South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung is ready to satisfy Chinese language chief Xi Jinping as he seeks to reset frayed ties together with his nation's greatest buying and selling accomplice.

Regional safety and Beijing's unofficial ban on Korean popular culture are additionally on the agenda for Monday's assembly, which is their second summit since November, when Xi visited South Korea.

Given what a significant financial accomplice China is, specialists say Lee is in search of assurances that it might not weaponise that relationship within the face of political tensions within the area.

For weeks, China and Japan have been engaged in a diplomatic row over the previous's declare on self-governed Taiwan, which places Seoul, a key regional energy, in an ungainly spot.

Beijing ramped up the rhetoric in opposition to Japan after its prime minister Sanae Takaichi steered in parliament that Tokyo might reply with its personal self defence pressure in case of a Chinese language assault on Taiwan.

So visiting Beijing presently is a major transfer for Lee. Like Japan, South Korea too is an ally of the US, which helps Taiwan and provides arms for its defence.

Lee, who arrived in Beijing on Sunday, will attend a banquet hosted by Xi on Monday. He'll then meet China's Premier Li Qiang and the chairman of parliament, Zhao Leji, earlier than flying to Shanghai.

Talking earlier than Korean residents in Beijing, Lee mentioned his go to would "function a brand new place to begin to fill within the gaps in Korea-China relations, restore them to regular and improve them to a brand new stage".

That is the primary go to by a South Korean chief since 2019. The connection soured underneath Lee's predecessor, impeached ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol, who was very essential of China.

On the opposite facet, Xi's eagerness to satisfy Lee indicators the strain he faces to find a regional ally, Park Seung-chan, professor of China research at Yongin College advised the BBC.

"China might beat across the bush however its demand is obvious: facet with China and denounce Japan."

Beijing has been leveraging the 2 international locations' shared historical past of preventing in opposition to Japan throughout the twentieth Century, Mr Park mentioned. Lee is predicted to carry a memorial service in Shanghai for activists who fought for Korea's independence from Japan.

Whereas Korea is "nonetheless displaying all its deference in direction of China", it desires to "strengthen its relationships with each Japan and China", Mr Park added.

Seoul has lengthy walked a diplomatic tightrope between Beijing and Tokyo. Lee is reportedly planning to go to Japan later this month to satisfy Takaichi. And on Friday, South Korea's nationwide safety director Wi Sung-lac advised reporters on that the nation "respects the One China coverage" - the diplomatic acknowledgment that Beijing is the one Chinese language authorities.

Safety on the Korean Peninsula may even be a part of the discussions with China, Wi advised reporters.

Lee has sought to have interaction North Korea diplomatically, however there was little progress to date. He wants Chinese language cooperation in pressuring the North's Kim Jong Un to surrender his nuclear weapons. Beijing is the dictator's greatest supporter, economically and diplomatically, Russia apart.

"China is an important cooperative accomplice in transferring towards peace and unification on the Korean Peninsula," Lee mentioned within the occasion with Korean residents in Beijing.

On Sunday, Seoul's army mentioned Pyongyang fired ballistic missiles off its east coast. And on Monday, North Korea's KCNA information company mentioned the North test-fired hypersonic missiles to evaluate its battle deterrence capabilities within the face of geopolitical developments.

Pyongyang had denounced America's arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as a "critical encroachment of sovereignty".

It stays unclear how a lot Lee will have the ability to push China on North Korea. In September, Xi had pledged to strengthen Beijing's "conventional friendship" with Pyongyang.

And Seoul and Beijing will not be pure allies.

US troops have been stationed in South Korea for many years in case of an assault from the North, and final yr the 2 sides agreed to cooperate on constructing nuclear-powered submarines. The announcement drew warnings from China.

There are different sore spots, corresponding to China's unofficial restrictions on South Korean music and dramas which were in place for a decade. Ok-pop and Ok-dramas are both unavailable or troublesome to entry on Chinese language media platforms.

Whereas China has by no means acknowledged a ban on Korean artists, it is believed to be a protest in opposition to South Korea's determination to deploy a US anti-missile system in 2016, which China sees as a risk to its army operations within the area.

Persuading Beijing to carry these restrictions is claimed to be excessive on Lee's agenda. China is an enormous marketplace for Korean leisure, which is already an enormous international success.

Lee would even be looking for to place a cease to China's build-up of maritime buildings in waters between the 2 international locations. Beijing says the buildings are fish-farming gear, however they've sparked safety considerations in Seoul.