Seoul, Beijing agree to seek summit in South Korea

Foreign Minister Park Jin smiles during his virtual meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, at the government complex in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Foreign ministers vow to expand ties 'in new era of cooperation'

By Jung Min-ho

The foreign ministers of South Korea and China agreed to strengthen bilateral diplomatic ties, Monday, as the two countries seek to hold high-level exchanges, including a summit in Seoul, “in the new era of cooperation.”

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Park Jin and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi held a virtual meeting and agreed to “maintain exchange momentum” for President Yoon Suk-yeol and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping following their first summit in Bali, Indonesia, last month.

The top diplomats said they will work together to honor what was agreed upon during the previous summit and to possibly hold a second one in South Korea, but did not elaborate.

Park's visit to Beijing, Wang's trip to Seoul and vice minister-level talks are among the other projects they agreed to pursue in the months ahead.

The virtual meeting took place amid intensifying nuclear and missile threats from North Korea as Seoul and Washington struggle to bring Pyongyang back to peace talks.

Park expressed concerns over the threats and said restraining North Korea from conducting further weapons tests would be beneficial for both Seoul and Beijing. He also urged Wang to support the Audacious Initiative ― the Yoon administration's economic offer for North Korea in return for denuclearization steps ― and convince the North to resume peace talks.

Wang avoided directly responding to the requests, saying China will play a constructive role regarding issues related to the Korean Peninsula, repeating what he said during their previous meeting in the Chinese city of Qingdao in August.

Despite North Korea's weapons tests conducted at an unprecedented pace this year, China and Russia ― permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) ― have thwarted U.S.-led attempts to impose additional sanctions on the North.

Park and Wang also agreed to cooperate to improve bilateral relations in the trade and cultural sectors. This is expected to raise hopes over the lifting of the Chinese government's unofficial ban on importing South Korean cultural content and other products such as video games, which constituted Beijing's economic bullying over a U.S. missile defense system set up here, known as Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense or THAAD, in 2017.

Over the past few weeks, there have already been positive signs of change in that area.

The Korean drama, “Twenty Five Twenty One,” was released Monday on Youku, one of the leading online-video sites in China. The move comes only a week after Bilibili, another such platform, released the first season of “Hospital Playlist,” a hit Korean TV series.

The policy has claimed many Korean corporate victims, including Lotte, which became a key target after allowing the South Korean government to use its golf course as a base for the THAAD launchers. The retail giant eventually decided to pull its businesses out of China.

Seoul and Washington have said the THAAD system is crucial in their defense against North Korea's aggression, especially in times like this when the regime is stepping up efforts to advance its missile and nuclear technologies.

When he was running for president, Yoon pledged to work with U.S. President Joe Biden to install an additional THAAD unit in an effort to build up South Korea's defense systems against evolving threats from the North. But Beijing has opposed the further deployment, claiming the real target of the U.S. system is China, not the North, as the THAAD's radar can be reconfigured to peer deep into its territory.

On the same day, business leaders and former high-ranking government officials of South Korea and China, including SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and former Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho, discussed ways to expand their cooperation at a virtual event co-hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.