FKI urges China to restore bilateral ties

Federation of Korean Industries Vice Chairman Kwon Tae-shin, left, talks with Chinese Ambassador to Korea Qiu Guohong, right, during the meeting at the FKI building in Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of FKI

By Kwak Yeon-soo

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) urged China, Thursday, to put a bilateral dispute over a U.S. missile defense system deployed here behind it, and to resume full economic cooperation amid continued uncertainty in the global economy.

At a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Korea Qiu Guohong, FKI Vice Chairman Kwon Tae-shin called for the lifting of a ban on group tours to Korea, and the same treatment for Korean firms in China as their local counterparts, among others.

Kwon also said he was looking forward to discussing ways to enhance investment cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, asking Beijing to adopt a policy of openness to foreign direct investment in services.

“In order to increase the annual Korea-China trade volume to $300 billion and the average utilization rate of the foreign trade agreement (FTA) to more than the current 50 percent, we need measures to expand the level of openness and to protect investors,” he said.

The meeting was organized ahead of President Moon Jae-in's visit to Chengdu, China, to hold a trilateral meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Dec. 24.

Twenty FKI members and business leaders attended the meeting to present their agenda, whose key topics included expanding a free trade deal to the areas of services and investment.

Qiu hinted at the possibility that Chinese President Xi Jinping could visit Seoul in the first half of next year, as the two countries are working to mend relations after tensions escalated over the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in Korea in 2017.

China strongly protested against the deployment, framing it as a threat to its national interests.

In response, it implemented “unofficial” economic retaliatory measures including the ban on Chinese package tours to Korea.

The two countries sought to resolve the dispute in October 2017 after Seoul agreed to a “three-no” policy to ease Beijing's security concerns: no deployment of additional THAAD batteries, no joining of a U.S.-led missile defense system and no participation in a trilateral security alliance with the U.S. and Japan.

“There has been ongoing tensions between China and Korea since the THADD dispute erupted, but we are working on solving those issues,” Qiu said. “We are on focused on restoring more cordial relations with Korea following Wang's visit.”

On Dec. 4, Chinese Prime Minister Wang Yi visited Korea to improve ties amid Beijing's escalating conflicts with Washington in areas ranging from trade to technology and security. It was the first visit to Korea by a high-level Chinese official in four years.