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

South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung is about to satisfy Chinese language chief Xi Jinping as he seeks to reset frayed ties together with his nation’s largest buying and selling associate.

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 associate China is, specialists say Lee is on the lookout for assurances that it will 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 a clumsy spot.

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

So visiting Beijing presently is a big 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 start line to fill within the gaps in Korea-China relations, restore them to regular and improve them to a brand new degree”.

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 important of China.

On the opposite aspect, Xi’s eagerness to satisfy Lee indicators the stress he faces to find a regional ally, Park Seung-chan, professor of China research at Yongin College instructed the BBC.

“China could beat across the bush however its demand is evident: aspect with China and denounce Japan.”

Beijing has been leveraging the 2 nations’ shared historical past of preventing towards Japan throughout the twentieth Century, Mr Park mentioned. Lee is anticipated 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 the direction of China”, it needs 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 instructed reporters the nation “respects the One China policy” – the diplomatic acknowledgment that Beijing is the one Chinese language authorities.

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

Lee has sought to interact 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 largest supporter, economically and diplomatically, Russia apart.

“China is an important cooperative associate in shifting towards peace and unification on the Korean Peninsula,” Lee mentioned on Sunday.

Earlier within the day Seoul’s navy mentioned Pyongyang fired ballistic missiles off its east coast. And on Monday the North’s state information company mentioned the nation test-fired hypersonic missiles to evaluate deterrence capabilities following current developments, a reference to the US’s seize of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro over the weekend.

It stays unclear how a lot Lee will be capable to push China on North Korea. In September, Xi had pledged to strengthen Beijing’s “conventional friendship” with Pyongyang.

And Seoul and Beijing should not pure allies.

US troops have been stationed in South Korea for many years in case of an assault from the North, and final 12 months the 2 sides agreed to cooperate on constructing nuclear-powered submarines. The announcement drew warnings from China.

There are different sore spots, comparable to China’s unofficial restrictions on South Korean music and dramas which have been in place for a decade. Ok-pop and Ok-dramas are both unavailable or tough 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 towards South Korea’s choice to deploy a US anti-missile system in 2016, which China sees as a menace to its navy operations within the area.

Persuading Beijing to raise 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 in search of to place a cease to China’s build-up of maritime buildings in waters between the 2 nations. Beijing says the buildings are fish-farming gear, however they’ve sparked safety issues in Seoul.