South Korean President Lee to visit Beijing for pivotal 2nd summit with Xi

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Chinese President Xi Jinping has invited South Korean President Lee Jae Myung to a authorities sojourn successful Beijing, signalling China’s tendency to reenforce relations with South Korea amid determination turbulence.

South Korea’s nationalist information adviser, Wi Sung-lac, told reporters connected Friday that Lee volition conscionable Xi successful Beijing connected Monday earlier travelling to Shanghai to sojourn the historical tract of South Korea’s provisional authorities during Japan’s 35-year assemblage rule.

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Wi said the leaders are expected to sermon “practical cooperation” successful areas including supply-chain investment, tourism, and responses to transnational crime, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Lee is besides expected to transportation China to instrumentality a “constructive” relation successful achieving “a breakthrough successful resolving issues connected the Korean Peninsula”, Wi added.

It volition beryllium the second meeting betwixt Xi and Lee successful conscionable 2 months, successful what analysts person described arsenic an unusually abbreviated interval, reflecting Beijing’s involvement successful bolstering ties earlier the adjacent gathering betwixt the leaders of South Korea and Japan takes place.

Relations betwixt China and Japan stay astatine a low point aft Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested successful November that a hypothetical Chinese onslaught connected Taiwan could provoke a subject effect from Tokyo.

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

On Friday, Wi reaffirmed South Korea’s presumption connected Taiwan, saying the state does “respect the one China policy and enactment successful accordance with that position”. The presumption acknowledges Beijing’s presumption that Taiwan remains portion of its sovereign territory, portion allowing for abstracted ties with the self-governing island.

Kang Jun-young, a prof of governmental economics astatine Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said “China wants to emphasise South Korea’s value somewhat much than before.

“China appears to person strategically decided that it would beryllium amended to person [Lee] sojourn China earlier South Korea holds a acme with Japan again,” Kang told the Reuters quality agency.

For its part, the Lee medication has stressed its extremity of “restoring” ties with China, which remains South Korea’s largest trading partner. At the aforesaid time, it has said Lee’s attack of “practical diplomacy” aims to support beardown ties with Japan and the United States, South Korea’s astir important ally.

Under Lee’s predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, Seoul leaned person to Washington and Tokyo and accrued disapproval of China’s stance connected Taiwan.

Lee, successful contrast, has said helium volition not instrumentality sides successful the quality betwixt China and Japan, a presumption helium maintains arsenic tensions astir the Taiwan Strait emergence pursuing Beijing’s caller large-scale military drills adjacent Taiwan.

Security alliances, determination strategy

The 2 leaders whitethorn besides code contentious issues specified arsenic efforts to modernise the South Korea-US alliance, which immoderate spot arsenic a counterbalance to China’s dominance successful the Asia Pacific region, according to Shin Beom-chul, a erstwhile South Korean vice defence curate and elder probe chap astatine the Sejong Institute.

Currently, astir 28,500 US troops are stationed successful South Korea to deter threats from North Korea. US officials person signalled plans to marque those forces much flexible successful responding to different determination challenges, including Taiwan and China’s increasing subject reach.

“Korea is not simply responding to threats connected the peninsula,” General Xavier Brunson, commandant of US Forces Korea, said astatine a forum connected December 29. “Korea sits astatine the crossroads of broader determination dynamics that signifier the equilibrium of powerfulness crossed Northeast Asia.”

As China remains North Korea’s main state and economical lifeline, experts expect Lee to question Beijing’s assistance successful encouraging dialog with Pyongyang.

North Korea dismissed Lee’s outreach past year, calling him a “hypocrite” and “confrontational maniac”.

China and North Korea have, successful turn, continued person coordination, with North Korean person Kim Jong Un appearing alongside Xi astatine a large military parade successful September.

Trade and culture

Lee’s sojourn is besides expected to absorption connected practice successful captious minerals, proviso chains, and greenish industries, his bureau said.

Nearly fractional of South Korea’s uncommon world minerals, which are indispensable for semiconductor production, travel from China. The trading spouse accounts for a 3rd of Seoul’s yearly spot exports, its largest market.

Last month, officials from some countries agreed to enactment towards unchangeable uncommon world supplies. The sojourn whitethorn besides research partnerships successful AI and precocious technologies.

Huawei Technologies plans to motorboat its Ascend 950 AI chips successful South Korea adjacent year, providing an alternate to US-based Nvidia for Korean firms, Huawei’s South Korea CEO, Balian Wang, said astatine a quality league past month.

Another imaginable taxable is Beijing’s effectual prohibition connected K-pop content, which stretches backmost to 2017 pursuing the deployment of the US’s THAAD rocket defence system successful South Korea.

SM Entertainment’s main executive, who heads 1 of the country’s starring K-pop agencies, volition articulation Lee’s concern delegation, according to section media.

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