China has urged South Korea to join it in defending free trade against “rampant” unilateral bullying amid the bitter trade war with the United States.
“Both China and South Korea are beneficiaries of economic globalisation,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday at a meeting in Beijing with his South Korean counterpart Cho Hyun.
“In the current situation where unilateral bullying is rampant, we should jointly oppose trade protectionism and safeguard the international free trade system,” Wang said, according to the Chinese readout.
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Wang added that China’s policy towards South Korea was stable and consistent. He also called for both sides to act with sincerity, strengthen mutual trust and deepen cooperation while “properly handling sensitive issues”.
Meanwhile, Cho has asked Beijing to help restart a dialogue with Pyongyang, stressing the goals of seeking progress towards “denuclearisation and peace on the Korean peninsula through talks and cooperation”, according to the South Korean foreign ministry.
Cho is in Beijing for a two-day visit, his first trip to China since taking office in July. The trip is expected to pave the way for Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders’ summit on October 31 and November 1.
If Xi’s attendance at the Apec summit is confirmed, it would be his first visit to South Korea since 2014.
The Apec event, which will take place in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, is also widely expected to be a potential stage for a long-awaited meeting between Xi and his US counterpart, Donald Trump.
Wednesday’s meeting also came amid tough trade negotiations between South Korea and the US this week to finalise a deal that Seoul hoped could end the US’ higher tariff on its auto products.
Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said earlier that the result of the talks would shape South Korea’s ties with the US.
Beijing seeks to reset its ties with the newly installed leadership in Seoul under President Lee Jae-myung, who assumed the presidency in June following a snap election prompted by the impeachment of his predecessor, Yoon Suk-yeol.
China-South Korea bilateral ties soured during the presidency of Yoon, who tilted Seoul’s diplomacy towards Washington and Tokyo.
Since taking office, Lee has emphasised a pragmatic approach to diplomacy and noted the need to recalibrate the relationship with China marred by deep distrust under the previous administration.
In an interview with Time magazine published on Thursday, Lee said South Korea could act as a “bridge” between the rival superpowers.
“Our values of democracy and market economy are based on our US-South Korea alliance,” Lee said.
“But because of our geographical proximity to China and our historical relationship, economic ties, as well as people-to-people ties, we cannot completely sever our relationship with China. So we need to manage our relationship at an adequate level, and I believe that the Western world has to be understanding in this regard.”
However, bilateral ties between the two Asian neighbours are complicated.
While South Korean tourists are returning to China since November thanks to Beijing’s visa waiver programme, anti-China sentiment has risen in South Korea. During a cabinet meeting last week, Lee openly called for effective countermeasures against the anti-China demonstrations that he described as “not freedom of expression, but wreaking havoc”.
Tensions have periodically emerged in the Yellow Sea since early this year, after China’s installation of huge steel structures in the so-called Provisional Measures Zone (PMZ) – an area where the exclusive economic zones of China and South Korea overlap – prompted concern in Seoul.
Beijing insisted the structures were run by commercial fish farmers and did not violate the fishery agreement between the two countries.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
