hankyoreh

South Korean President Moon Jae-n and Chinese President Xi Jinping smile as they shake hands to open their summit at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Da Nang

During his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Nov. 11, South Korean President Moon Jae-in officially restored ties between the two countries. This represented a confirmation by the leaders of the two nations that they are moving to thaw ties that have been frozen since South Korea and the US began deliberating the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system in Feb. 2016.

This was Moon and Xi’s second summit, following a previous meeting this past July in Berlin, Germany, where they were attending the G20 summit. During a press briefing after the summit, Blue House spokesperson Park Soo-hyun indirectly referred to the THAAD conflict by saying that “Moon and Xi also candidly shared their opinions about differences of opinion between the two countries.”

The THAAD dispute was not completely resolved in the two leaders second summit (held at Da Nang, Vietnam, on the sideline of the APEC summit) either. On Nov. 12, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated the country’s position on THAAD and said that “both sides must adopt a stance that takes responsibility for history, for bilateral relations and for the people of both countries.”

But during their summit, Moon and Xi assertively expressed their commitment to improving bilateral relations. “The two leaders reviewed the statement released on Oct. 31 detailing a plan to improve bilateral relations and agreed to use this as the basis for quickly normalizing exchange and cooperation in all areas,” said Senior Secretary to the President for Public Relations Yoon Young-chan during a press briefing after the meeting. Xi reportedly described this as a “new departure and a good beginning.”

“South Korea and China are both natural partners and close neighbors who cannot move away from each other,” Xi was quoted as saying by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “I value relations with South Korea, and I want to work toward the healthy and stable development of our bilateral relations with South Korea.”

The matters discussed during the two leaders’ meeting can be summarized as follows: arranging a visit to China by Moon in December and a return visit by Xi, carrying out dialogue on the North Korean nuclear issue and finding a peaceful solution, and expanding exchange and strengthening strategic dialogue among officials of all ranks. The agreement about Moon’s visit to China in December leads some to predict that a more concrete blueprint about restoring and improving South Korea-China relations will emerge from the third summit between Moon and Xi that will be held during that period.

“The two leaders agreed that Moon will hold a summit with Xi when he visits China in December and that they will comprehensively discuss future-oriented development of their relations,” Yoon said.

Admittedly, Moon and Xi’s summit appears to have done no more than confirm official positions about the North Korean nuclear issue and a plan to strengthen strategic dialogue. Yoon reported that the two leaders had “agreed that [the North Korean nuclear issue] would ultimately be resolved peaceably through dialogue.”

China reported that Xi had confirmed his three principles of denuclearization, peace and stability, and a solution based on dialogue and compromise. He also expressed his support for “relaxing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea resuming dialogue and contact with the North, and working toward reconciliation and cooperation.” The only thing that Yoon said about South Korea and China’s strategic dialogue was that the two leaders had “agreed to strengthen it among officials of all ranks.”

When it comes to the North Korean nuclear issue, the two leaders are likely to need a thorough exchange of ideas about concrete solutions and a roadmap for getting there. That conversation will need to cover China’s proposal of the “dual freeze” of North Korea’s nuclear and missile activities and South Korea and the US’s joint military exercises and the “simultaneous pursuit” of denuclearization and a peace treaty and South Korea’s idea of facilitating negotiations by putting pressure on North Korea.

As for strategic dialogue, South Korea and China agreed during a summit between Xi and then South Korean President Park Geun-hye in June 2013 to set up a channel of high-level strategic dialogue between the Blue House National Security Chief and the member of China’s State Council in charge of foreign affairs. But since the first meeting in November of that year, this channel has been mostly inactive. These matters are expected to be further clarified during Moon’s visit to China next month. In response to Moon’s request for Xi to visit South Korea during the Pyeongchang Olympics next February, Xi said that he would “try to visit South Korea,” but that if circumstances did not permit, he would send a high-level delegation instead. Xi effectively left open the possibility of a return visit to Pyeongchang without giving a definite answer.

Since the two leaders declared the restoration of bilateral relations during their summit, this is likely to mean the beginning of efforts to return the relationship in a variety of areas – including politics, the economy and cultural exchange – to the way they were before China’s retribution for the THAAD deployment. But given the confirmation that THAAD remains a potential obstacle for South Korea-China relations, it is too soon to predict the future trajectory of their relations, which have been brought to a turning point by the summit.

By Kim Oi-hyun, Beijing correspondent

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]