Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and South Korean Premier Yoon launched diplomatic and security dialogue and agreed to resume free trade negotiations.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang and host South Korean President Yun Seok-yeo launched diplomatic and security dialogue on the eve of a tripartite summit with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and agreed to resume talks on a free trade agreement.
Monday’s meeting between the three leaders will be the first three-way talks in more than four years, as tensions between the U.S. and China intensify and South Korea and Japan seek to repair ties soured by historical issues and deepen their trilateral security partnership with the United States.
Yoon met with Ri on Sunday afternoon, who is visiting South Korea for the first time since taking office in March 2023.
“China and South Korea face major common challenges in the international situation,” Yoon said, noting that the wars in Ukraine and Gaza are sources of increasing uncertainty in the global economy.
Yoon told Lee that the two countries should work together to address common challenges.
“Just as South Korea and China have overcome various difficulties together over the past 30 years and contributed to each other’s development and growth, I hope to continue to strengthen cooperation between our two countries even in the face of today’s complex global crisis,” President Yoon said through his office.
According to China’s state news agency Xinhua, Li told Yun that the two countries oppose turning economic and trade issues into political and security issues and should strive to maintain stable supply chains.
Easing regional tensions
In recent years, Chinese leaders and diplomats have frequently criticized the United States and its allies, including South Korea and Japan, over export controls targeting China’s semiconductor industry and called on those countries to stop “overstretching the concept of national security.”
Since 2021, Chinese companies and government agencies have increasingly been cut off from easy access to the world’s most advanced chips made by South Korean tech giants such as Samsung and SK Hynix.
Li expressed hope for continued efforts to “reach consensus and resolve differences” through “equal dialogue and sincere communication.”
In a separate meeting with Kishida, Yoon praised progress in diplomatic, economic and cultural exchanges with Japan and agreed to deepen ties next year when the two countries mark the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties, Yoon’s office said.
Premier Li Keqiang and Foreign Minister Kishida also held a separate bilateral meeting, during which Foreign Minister Kishida stressed that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is of great importance to Tokyo.
According to Reuters, Foreign Minister Kishida also asked Foreign Minister Li to ensure the early release of Japanese nationals imprisoned in China.
The three neighbours had agreed to hold annual summits since 2008 to strengthen regional cooperation, but bilateral feuds and the COVID-19 pandemic halted the plans. The last tripartite summit was held in late 2019.
While Monday’s meeting is unlikely to produce any significant announcements or breakthroughs, the leaders expressed hope that it could lead to a reduction in regional tensions.
