Korea, China vow to bolster relations at APEC

Vice Foreign Minister Park Yun-joo, right, poses for a photo with Chinese Ambassador to Korea Dai Bing during a courtesy visit at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Korea and China are stepping up communication across multiple levels of government, following a renewed commitment by their leaders to deepen bilateral ties.

Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yun-joo met with Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Dai Bing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in central Seoul, Monday, to discuss the overall direction of Korea-China relations. Park assessed that ties between the two countries have been progressing smoothly since the inauguration of President Lee Jae Myung earlier this year.

He proposed that the two sides deepen cooperation in various areas around the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, set to be held in Gyeongju in November. Park called for close coordination to ensure the event serves as a springboard for more mature and sustainable development of Korea-China ties.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to attend the APEC summit, which would mark his first visit to Korea in more than a decade. His last visit was in July 2014, during the Park Geun-hye administration. Leaders from other major economies, including U.S. President Donald Trump, are also likely to participate, giving Korea a chance to play a larger diplomatic role on the global stage.

Dai said he would do his utmost to advance bilateral ties, building on the shared understanding reached during the first phone call between the leaders of the two countries on June 10. During the conversation, Lee expressed hope that the two nations would expand cooperation in trade, security, culture and people-to-people exchanges, grounded in mutual respect and equality.

Xi echoed those sentiments, calling for closer bilateral and multilateral coordination and a joint effort to uphold multilateralism and free trade. He emphasized the need to safeguard stable and efficient global and regional industrial and supply chains — a remark widely seen as a call for a coordinated response to protectionist trade policies expected during the second Trump term.