Foreign Minister Park Jin, second from left, and Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming, center, propose a toast during a ceremony to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Korea and China in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

Chinese president stresses need to unite and cooperate with Seoul

By Kang Seung-woo

President Yoon Suk-yeol said, Wednesday, he was looking forward to seeing Chinese President Xi Jinping in person to discuss ways to develop relations between South Korea and China for the next 30 years as Seoul and Beijing celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.

In response, Xi said the two countries should be good neighbors, friends and partners, stressing the importance of the bilateral ties.

Both leaders' congratulatory messages were read out by their top diplomats ―- Park Jin and Wang Yi ―during separate anniversary ceremonies held simultaneously in Seoul and Beijing.

"South Korea and China have not only been geographically close, but have also built long-standing ties culturally and historically. We are further solidifying our strategic cooperative partnership," Yoon said.

The president said the trade volume between the two countries has increased fivefold since they established diplomatic relations in 1992. China is South Korea's largest trading partner, while Seoul is Beijing's fourth-largest export destination.

Referring to his previous phone talks with Xi in March after the South Korean leader was elected, during which they agreed to move bilateral relations forward on the occasion of the 30th anniversary, Yoon said, "South Korea and China should develop a healthy and mature relationship based on mutual respect and cooperation."

Foreign Minister Park Jin, center, Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming, right, and Lim Chae-jung, chair of the Committee of Future-Oriented Development of Korea-China Relations, attend a meeting to submit a policy report in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

He added, "To this end, I hope that high-level exchanges will be promoted and substantive cooperation will be strengthened in various fields such as economic security, including global supply chains, in order to achieve specific results that can be felt by both peoples."

In particular, Yoon voiced his expectations of the two countries working together to help their counterparts build amicable perceptions of each other, which is the basis of the stable development of South Korea-China relations, and that if this is done, the young people of the two countries will become closer.

China is regarded as the only country that can exert influence on North Korea as it is Pyongyang's chief diplomatic protector and economic benefactor.

In that respect, Yoon said he looks forward to the two countries cooperating more closely to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue and voiced hopes that China will play a constructive role.

Xi assessed that the two countries have developed their relations in all directions while maintaining openness and engagement through reciprocal cooperation over the past 30 years.

"It is important for the international community, including South Korea and China, to unite and cooperate at a critical period marked by grand revolution and a pandemic of the century," he was quoted as saying.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi gives a speech during a virtual session of the Committee for Future-Oriented Development of Korea-China Relations in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

Xi "expressed hope for strengthening strategic communication with President Yoon and building a substantive friendship with the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations as the new starting point," the presidential office said.

The anniversary was celebrated as thorny issues between the two countries have been hampering their bilateral relations since the inauguration of the Yoon administration in May. Yoon has shown signs of moving closer to the United States, a drastic shift from his predecessor Moon Jae-in's so-called "balanced diplomacy" amid the U.S.-Sino rivalry. For instance, South Korea is set to join the U.S.-proposed chip alliance, also known as Chip 4 or Fab 4, believed to be a platform to counter Beijing's rising influence in global supply chains.

During the ceremony, the South Korean foreign minister also said the two sides should strengthen bilateral cooperation in many areas on the basis of the joint action plan for the future development of Korea-China relations, agreed during his meeting with Wang in August.

"First, Korea-China economic cooperation must be qualitatively upgraded in the new global market environment," Park said, adding that the supply chains of the two countries are closely intertwined.

"Secondly, the two sides should strengthen strategic communication and in that respect, a two-plus-two foreign and defense vice-ministerial meeting will be held," he said.

Park also said cultural cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries should be restored as soon as possible.

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se, right, speaks with Xing Haiming, China's ambassador to Korea, during their meeting at the government complex in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

The South Korean foreign minister's remarks indicated the continuation of the Chinese government's economic retaliation against Seoul's deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery.

Claiming that the THAAD system's radar can spy on its military maneuvers and undermine its security interests, China has yet to fully end its economic retaliation against South Korea. In the wake of the THAAD deployment, the Chinese government decided to ban Chinese group tours to South Korea, while curbing cultural imports.

Meanwhile, ahead of the ceremonies, the Committee for Future-Oriented Development of Korea-China Relations submitted a set of policy suggestions. The committee was launched in 2021 to draw up and suggest a roadmap for the development of relations between Seoul and Beijing.

The panel proposed that the two sides seek a "fresh model of cooperation" via "multi-layered strategic dialogue" to deepen mutual political trust. It also suggested cooperation on supply chains and maritime issues.

Separately, Unification Minister Kwon Young-se met with Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming, earlier in the day, and agreed on the need to prevent the situation on the Korean Peninsula from getting worse and to continue to strengthen cooperation, according to the Ministry of Unification.