South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung (R) and his woman Kim Hea Kyung (L) committee their level to depart for China astatine Seoul Air Base successful Seongnam connected Jan. 4, 2026.
Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Images
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung began a state visit to China on Sunday, hoping to beforehand bid connected the Korean Peninsula hours aft rival North Korea launched ballistic missiles.
The visit, Lee's archetypal to China since taking bureau successful June, comes amid heightened planetary tensions aft Pyongyang's assertive display, connected the heels of the U.S. attack connected Venezuela.
Lee is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping during the travel for their second meeting in conscionable 2 months, an unusually abbreviated interval that, analysts say, signals China's keen involvement successful boosting economical collaboration and tourism arsenic its relations with neighbouring Japan person sunk to the lowest constituent successful years.
Beijing was incensed when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested successful November that Tokyo could instrumentality subject enactment if Beijing attacked Taiwan. China claims the democratically governed land arsenic its ain - an assertion rejected by Taiwan's government.
Sunday's rocket launches by North Korea correspond "a connection to China to deter person ties with South Korea and to antagonistic China's stance connected denuclearisation", said Lim Eul-chul, a prof astatine the Institute for Far Eastern Studies successful Seoul.
Lee arrived successful Beijing with a delegation that includes much than 200 South Korean concern leaders to commencement a four-day authorities sojourn to China, Chinese authorities quality broadcaster CCTV reported.
China and South Korea are expected to sermon matters specified arsenic proviso concatenation investment, the integer system and taste exchanges during Lee's visit, CCTV said.
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