South Korea seeks to stabilize relations with China, Russia

President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during their summit at a hotel in Bali, Indonesia, in this Nov. 15, 2022 photo. Yonhap

Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo in talks to hold trilateral summit within this year: foreign ministry

By Lee Hyo-jin

South Korea seeks to stabilize diplomatic relations with China and Russia that have grown strained amid increasing geopolitical confrontations between Seoul, Washington, Tokyo on one side and Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow on the other.

Maintaining stable relations with China and Russia is becoming an important task for South Korea as Pyongyang gears up to reopen its borders after a years-long COVID-19 lockdown and normalize relations with its two key allies.

Analysts viewed that China has been sending some positive signals in response to South Korea's move to improve bilateral relations, as it grows increasingly wary of the expansion of the U.S.-led order in Northeast Asia, as seen from the Seoul-Washington-Tokyo trilateral summit held at Camp David earlier this month.

"It is too early to say that there will be rapid progress, but we are seeing some improvements in South Korea-China relations which have been locked in a slump for quite a long time," said Kang Joon-young, a professor of Chinese studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

He mentioned that several meetings between senior diplomats of the two countries took place in recent weeks.

Most recently, South Korea's Second Vice Foreign Minister Oh Young-ju traveled to Beijing where she met Li Fei, China's assistant minister of commerce, and held the 27th meeting of a bilateral joint economic committee on Tuesday.

South Korea's Second Vice Foreign Minister Oh Young-ju, left, shakes hands with Li Fei, China's assistant minister of commerce, during the 27th meeting of bilateral joint economic committee in Beijing, Tuesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs

It was the first time in three years that the meeting was held in-person, as two previous ones were held online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the meeting, the two sides agreed on the need to stably manage supply chains and fortify economic ties through various consultative bodies, according to Seoul's foreign ministry.

At the 2023 Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia, Monday (local time), South Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin highlighted the importance of maintaining friendly relations with China.

"The South Korea-U.S.-Japan partnership and the friendly relations between South Korea and China are by no means mutually exclusive. We aim to develop a healthy and mature relationship with China based on mutual respect, reciprocity and common interests," Park said.

The minister added that the South Korean government is committed to holding a trilateral summit with China and Japan within this year.

"Before the Camp David summit, China reacted furiously to the trilateral partnership among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan. But after the summit, it toned down its rhetoric, especially towards South Korea," Kang said. "Beijing seems to view that maintaining hostile relations with Seoul would only push its alignment with Washington."

In that sense, Kang said it is highly likely for South Korea, China and Japan to hold a trilateral summit within this year.

The meeting by the leaders of the neighboring countries ― attended by the South Korean president and prime ministers of China and Japan ― kicked off in 2008 and took place eight times.

But the meeting came to a halt since the last one in December 2019, due mainly to strained relations between South Korea and Japan over historical grievances.

According to Japanese media reports, Wednesday, senior-level diplomats of the three Asian countries are expected to hold a meeting in Seoul in late September, in what is viewed as a preparation for the three-way meeting.

Regarding this, Seoul's foreign ministry said related talks are underway.

"As the host country of the ninth trilateral summit between South Korea, Japan, and China, we are currently coordinating with the relevant countries to resume senior officials' meetings and other trilateral consultative bodies with the goal of holding the summit within this year," the ministry said in a statement, almost acknowledging the media reports.

Regarding ties with Russia, Wi Sung-lac, a former ambassador to Russia, said that the South Korean government has been showing some efforts to maintain relations with Moscow despite a tough diplomatic environment amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

After South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin visited Moscow in June, a senior Russian diplomat is expected to make a corresponding trip to Seoul in the near future, said National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong during a recent interview with a local broadcaster.

"Mutual visits by senior diplomats are indeed positive signs," Wi told The Korea Times.

"But what matters more is what the two sides will talk about. It may be hard to find common grounds and build mutual trust under current geopolitical conditions, but maintaining peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula are some agendas that the two nations can, and should, work together on."