SEOUL, South Korea – Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung held their second summit in two months on Monday, aimed at navigating the complex relationship between the two countries amid rising tensions in the neighboring countries.
Mr. Li had invited Mr. Xi to a meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held in Gyeongju.
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President Lee visited Beijing on Sunday, beginning a four-day visit that will be the first visit by a South Korean president to China since 2019.
South Korea is in a complicated position. A strong relationship with China, an important economic partner, is necessary, but relations with China and South Korea’s two biggest allies, the United States and Japan, have deteriorated in recent years. China and South Korea also have their own differences over issues such as Taiwan, trade friction, and maritime claims.
Why does South Korea need China?
Against this backdrop, analysts say the timing of President Lee’s visit is important. According to reports, the South Korean president is scheduled to visit Japan later this month, but President Lee has chosen to visit China first.
Money obviously matters.
China is South Korea’s largest economic partner, largest export destination, and major import source.
But Seoul needs Beijing for more than economic reasons.
The Chinese government is important to South Korea because of its influence over North Korea and its leader Kim Jong Un.
Hours before Mr. Ri departed for China, North Korea fired a hypersonic missile into the sea east of its territory, underscoring the urgency of regional security.
What was discussed at the Xi-Ri summit meeting?
Monday’s summit meeting began with warm remarks from the two leaders. Mr. Xi emphasized that both countries “place great importance on South Korea-China relations.”
Xi, who was the first Chinese president to visit South Korea for the APEC summit since 2014, said, “Every time we meet, friends grow closer, and every visit brings neighbors even closer.As friends and neighbors, South Korea and China must interact more often and communicate diligently.”
Mr. Li also agreed with Mr. Xi’s opinion.
Mason Ritchie, a professor of international politics at the Korea University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) in Seoul, said the summit will be the first true test of Lee’s ability to navigate the difficult relationship between South Korea and China.
“This visit is very important for South Korea because Mr. Lee has been very focused on the United States during the first seven months of his term,” he told Al Jazeera.
However, despite the intense talks, “some important and controversial issues were not seriously addressed,” he said. “In particular, China’s hybrid threats against South Korea in the Yellow Sea, and China’s coercion against Taiwan and the Philippines.” China maintains that autonomous Taiwan belongs to its own country, and has not ruled out the possibility of armed occupation. Beijing also held large-scale military exercises off the coast of Taiwan in December. Meanwhile, China and the Philippines have a tense relationship over competing territorial claims over parts of the South China Sea.
Lee Dong-gyu, a researcher at the Asan Policy Research Institute, added, “Both sides.” [China and South Korea] We agree that relations should be restored and that economic cooperation is the way forward.
“But in reality, it seems that it is not easy to find common ground in the fields of foreign relations, diplomacy and security.”
north korea
During the 90-minute summit, Mr. Lee stressed the importance of working with China to bring North Korea back to the dialogue table, even as North Korea has shown little sign of engaging in diplomacy.
China remains North Korea’s main ally and economic lifeline. Although Mr. Xi has promised economic aid to North Korea, it is still technically at war with South Korea. Mr. Kim appeared with Mr. Xi at the Victory Day military parade in Beijing last year. North Korea, on the other hand, dismissed Lee’s efforts, calling him a “hypocrite” and a “confrontational maniac.”
“(I) will work with China to explore viable alternatives for peace on the Korean Peninsula, so that both countries can jointly contribute to peace, which is the fundamental foundation of prosperity and growth,” Lee said in his opening remarks at the summit.
Although he did not directly mention North Korea’s denuclearization, Xi noted that the two countries “bear important responsibilities in safeguarding regional peace and promoting global development, and share extensive common interests.”
“The two leaders emphasized the importance of resuming dialogue with North Korea,” South Korean national security adviser Wie Sung-lak told reporters, adding that Lee and Xi agreed to hold annual talks and expand communication between their defense officials to “build mutual trust and contribute to peace and stability in the region.”
Silence on Taiwan
In an interview with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV last week, Li said he believed South Korea “respects the ‘one China’ principle.” This principle states that countries must refuse diplomatic relations with Taiwan in order to cooperate with the Chinese government.
However, he has previously argued for a more balanced position, arguing that South Korea should not intervene directly militarily in the Taiwan Strait, which is a dispute between two external nations.
This issue has become even more sensitive since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks in November. She warned that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could pose an “existential threat to Japan” and could force the Japanese government to use military force. Tensions between China and Japan escalated as the Chinese government accused her of interfering in internal affairs. China has issued a travel advisory for Japan and suspended many imports from Japan.
“The two countries, which have extensive common interests, should firmly stand on the right side of history and make the right strategic choices,” Xi told Li at Monday’s summit. Direct mention of Taiwan was missing from the discussion.
Instead, Xi emphasized China and South Korea’s common experience of resisting Japan during World War II, saying, “More than 80 years ago, China and South Korea achieved victory over Japanese militarism at great national sacrifices,” Chinese state media Xinhua reported.
Lee also pointed out that the two neighboring countries have maintained friendly relations for thousands of years and share a history of resisting loss of sovereignty and fighting for independence, an apparent reference to Japan’s colonial expansion in the early 20th century.
US countermeasures
Analysts said that despite the apparent goodwill seen in Beijing, South Korea needs to maintain a difficult balance.
The United States continues to deepen its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region, strengthening ties with countries such as South Korea, Japan and the Philippines, while conducting joint exercises near the South China Sea, where China’s territorial claims have been disputed for decades.
South Korea is home to the largest US military base in Asia, with approximately 28,500 soldiers stationed there.
HUFS’ Ritchie said: “Mr Li has no choice, both as a matter of international relations and as a domestic issue where China is very unpopular, so he will end up privileging relations with the US over China.”
In November, South Korea and the United States agreed to build a nuclear submarine. This came after the United States lowered tariffs on South Korean goods in exchange for $350 billion in industrial investment and cooperation in the “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again” initiative aimed at countering China’s dominance in the sector.
China has previously expressed concern about South Korea acquiring nuclear capabilities, but this topic was not discussed at the summit.
Lee Dong-gyu of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies pointed out that China may seek common ground with South Korea on the Korean Peninsula and regional security in order to counter the growing influence of the United States in the region.
“This is especially true in the era of the Trump administration, where the United States is demanding greater responsibility and contribution from its Asian allies in containing China. Given this situation, China may consider repairing relations with South Korea to moderate U.S.-led efforts in the region.”
“Especially during the Trump administration, China has sought to counter the growing U.S. presence in the region by leveraging its regional allies to continue to put pressure on China.”
south china sea drama
The summit also addressed sensitive maritime issues, particularly concerns about Beijing’s steel structures in the Yellow Sea’s Jointly Managed Provisional Zone (PMZ), a shallow stretch of water between mainland China and the Korean peninsula.
Since 2018, China has been building steel structures in the area, which the Chinese government says are for fish farming, but concerns about its territorial claims in the South China Sea and East China Sea remain.
South Korea’s National Security Adviser Wi Sung-rak said the two sides agreed to continue “constructive” talks, saying that transforming the Yellow Sea into a “sea of peace and mutual prosperity” is essential for a stable and long-term relationship. They also agreed to hold a vice-ministerial consultation on maritime boundaries by the end of the year.
shared economic prosperity
Mr. Lee was accompanied by the heads of South Korean conglomerates, including Samsung, SK Group, and LG, and the two countries signed 14 memorandums of understanding in the areas of trade, technology, and the environment.
Nearly half of South Korea’s rare earth minerals, which are essential for semiconductor manufacturing, come from China. China also accounts for a third of Seoul’s annual chip exports, its largest market.
Meanwhile, Chinese company Huawei plans to launch its AI chip Ascend 950 in South Korea next year, giving the Korean company an alternative to U.S.-based Nvidia, CEO Varian Wang said.
China is also South Korea’s largest source of foreign tourists.
During the era of former President Yun Seok-yeol, relations between South Korea and China became tense as Yun strengthened ties with the United States amid intensifying tensions between the United States and China. But in the era of President Trump’s tariffs, South Korea is seeking more balance between its security ties with Washington and its economic ties with China.
“South Korea and China are like ships moving in the same direction in the same ocean,” Lee said at a bilateral business forum before the summit meeting with President Xi.
Continuation of cultural exchange
The two leaders discussed repairing cultural ties to expand access to Korean entertainment content in China, which has faced an unofficial ban, although the Chinese government has not formally acknowledged the restrictions.
However, Kang Heung-sik, South Korea’s presidential chief of staff, said in a radio interview that the Chinese government is unlikely to lift the unofficial ban anytime soon.
And while the two countries’ leaders may have exchanged warm words, the atmosphere on the streets in China and South Korea is not very conducive to strong relations, analysts said, citing anti-China rallies in South Korea and reports citing anti-Korean sentiment in China.
Still, Mr. Li and Mr. Xi appear to be working hard this week to present a different dimension to the bilateral relationship.
After the state dinner, Mr. Li took a selfie of the president and his wife, including a smiling Mr. Xi, using a Chinese-made Xiaomi smartphone given to him by Mr. Xi during his visit to South Korea last year.
“I’m sure the picture quality is good, right?” Lee posted on social media with a beaming face emoji. “Thanks to you, I was able to take a once-in-a-lifetime photo (lol),” he added.
