South Korea and China seek to defrost ties ahead of trilateral summit with Japan

SEOUL - As South Korea gears up to host the first trilateral summit in more than four years with China and Japan later in May, an important task at hand is to reconcile strained bilateral relations with Beijing.

To mend ties, South Korea dispatched Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul on a visit to Beijing on May 13-14, the first in more than six years by a South Korean foreign minister. The visit is seen as a step towards normalising of relations, a move that the Chinese have welcomed. In response, Mr Cho – a veteran diplomat who was just appointed Foreign Minister in January 2024 and is thus regarded to be in a good position to reset ties with China – said that South Korea attaches significance to relations with China.

Mr Cho called for the building of bilateral trust, saying that he hoped his visit will be the “first step towards untangling the threads” between the two countries and “opening up a new avenue for cooperation”. Analysts have said that while deliverables from the summit are unlikely to be substantive, the more important outcome is the resumption of dialogue, especially between South Korea and China.

He added that the more feasible outcomes would be in less sensitive areas such as economic cooperation, technology exchanges and people-to-people exchanges.

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