SAEDNEWS: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will meet Monday with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing, with closer economic ties as well as the recalcitrant North on the agenda.
Lee has become the first South Korean leader in six years to visit Beijing, holding talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping just one day after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, according to AFP.
The two leaders are scheduled to attend an opening ceremony and a summit, followed by the signing of an agreement and a state banquet, Seoul said.
Accompanied by senior business and technology figures, Lee is seeking commitments to expand economic cooperation with China, South Korea’s largest trading partner. He has called for bilateral trade to become “more horizontal and mutually beneficial.”
On Monday, Lee met with top executives from major South Korean and Chinese companies at Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Yonhap reported. He said the two countries “have helped each other grow through interconnected industrial supply chains and led the global economy.”
Chinese firms represented included battery producer CATL, telecom company ZTE and technology giant Tencent. On the South Korean side, Lee is accompanied by Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group executive chair Chung Eui-sun, among others.
Lee also hopes China can use its influence over North Korea to support efforts to improve relations with Pyongyang. “China is a very important cooperative partner in moving toward peace and unification on the Korean Peninsula,” he said during a meeting with Korean residents in Beijing.
Hours before the summit, Pyongyang announced it had launched two hypersonic missiles and that its nuclear forces were ready for “actual war.”
Xi and Lee last met in November on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Gyeongju, in a meeting that Seoul described as a reset after years of strained ties.
South Korea has long balanced its relationship between China, its main trading partner, and the United States, its primary security ally. Lee’s visit also comes days after China conducted large-scale military drills around Taiwan, which Seoul has notably avoided condemning.
In an interview with Chinese state television, Lee said he “clearly affirms” the importance of respecting the “one-China” principle and maintaining peace and stability in Northeast Asia, including across the Taiwan Strait.
