During his inaugural visit to South Korea in 11 years, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, urged the nation to deepen cooperation with Beijing as he met with President Lee Jae Myung. This significant meeting, occurring on a Saturday, underscored South Korea’s intricate diplomatic position.
As with many other Asian countries maintaining robust connections with both economic titans, South Korea is grappling with the increasing difficulty of balancing its relationships amid the intensifying rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
President Lee, who assumed office in June with a commitment to enhance ties with China, had initially hoped Mr. Xi’s visit for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Gyeongju would open avenues for expanded economic collaboration. However, these ambitions were complicated by South Korea’s simultaneous efforts to strengthen its enduring alliance with the United States. President Trump, also attending the APEC summit, held separate discussions with President Lee earlier in the week.
A televised broadcast depicted Chinese leader Xi Jinping meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Saturday. President Lee, elected in June, had pledged to improve ties with Beijing.
Adding a new dimension to these geopolitical dynamics, President Trump unexpectedly announced that the United States would permit South Korea to build nuclear-powered submarines. This move is anticipated to further integrate the country into Washington’s security framework. While President Lee had sought Trump’s endorsement, arguing that these submarines would alleviate the burden on the U.S. military and bolster South Korea’s naval presence near China and North Korea, the sudden announcement reportedly surprised even South Korean officials.
On Saturday, Mr. Xi affirmed that China and South Korea are indispensable partners and expressed readiness to deepen their bond. Concurrently, he implicitly advised South Korea to resist American-led initiatives aimed at curbing trade with Beijing, emphasizing the importance of upholding the multilateral trading system.
President Lee, in turn, underscored the critical nature of trade relations with China, crediting them with South Korea’s emergence as a global economic powerhouse.
Despite these encouraging dialogues, the APEC summit this week vividly illustrated the inherent challenges South Korea faces in managing its competing allegiances.
Seong-Hyon Lee, a senior fellow at the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.–China Relations, noted that South Korea has historically balanced its security dependence on the United States with its economic interdependence with China. He asserted, “That equilibrium has effectively ended.” He further added that the submarine deal, if executed, “marks Seoul’s transition from a balancing actor to a fully embedded partner within the U.S. framework.”
Another image showed President Trump meeting with President Lee in South Korea. The two nations had agreed on a trade deal, with Washington committing to reduce tariffs on South Korean goods.
Even as the United States pressed South Korea to participate in efforts to counter China, Seoul simultaneously sought Beijing’s assistance in mitigating tensions with North Korea. President Lee highlighted Beijing’s significant role in fostering peace on the Korean Peninsula, stating at a news conference following the APEC summit, “Stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia benefits China too.”
The profound ideological chasm between the United States and China cast a pall over the summit, despite a temporary trade truce reached between Presidents Trump and Xi earlier in the week.
On Wednesday, in a speech to business leaders in Gyeongju, President Trump championed his “America First” agenda and the strategic application of tariffs as a foreign policy tool. Two days later, at the APEC leaders’ summit, President Xi cautioned nations against joining the United States in attempts to reduce global reliance on Chinese supply chains.
President Lee revealed that APEC member states engaged in intense, last-minute negotiations over the summit’s joint statement, reflecting the considerable difficulty in achieving common ground. Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, commented on the challenge of building consensus on international institutional reform and free trade efforts “in the current environment of norm-violating tariffs, export controls, and industrial policies.”
In a protest scene, demonstrators in Gyeongju, South Korea, took to the streets on Saturday, holding flags and placards to voice their opposition to the APEC Summit and President Trump.
President Lee had extended a lavish reception to both leaders this week, aiming to identify areas of mutual understanding and cooperation.
He assured President Trump that South Korea would increase its military expenditure, a measure encouraged by the American president to counter China. Their meeting concluded on a positive note for President Lee, yielding a new trade agreement and a groundbreaking deal for nuclear-powered submarines, which President Trump announced via social media would be built in Philadelphia.
Additionally, South Korea pledged a substantial investment of $350 billion in the United States, including its shipbuilding industry. This commitment was made in exchange for the Trump administration’s agreement to lower tariffs on South Korean goods to 15 percent, down from the 25 percent levy imposed in August.
President Xi received a similarly warm welcome, with a traditional Korean honor guard escorting his vehicle as it arrived at the Gyeongju National Museum, the summit’s distinguished venue.
These recent diplomatic overtures represent an attempt to mend relations after a decade of considerable strain.
In 2014, Mr. Xi’s visit to South Korea notably preceded his first trip to North Korea by five years – a departure from historical protocol where a new Chinese leader traditionally visited North Korea first. The then-South Korean leader, Park Geun-hye, reciprocated this gesture the following year by attending a military parade in Beijing alongside Mr. Xi, commemorating the 70th anniversary of World War II’s end.
However, when China hosted a comparable military parade in September for the 80th anniversary, North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, stood in place of the South Korean leader. This symbolic shift highlighted the deterioration of relations between Seoul and Beijing over the past decade, largely stemming from South Korea’s decision to permit the U.S. to deploy an antimissile system on its soil.
Since President Trump’s re-election, South Korea has proactively taken measures to address his concerns, actions that could potentially elicit renewed displeasure from Beijing.
The submarine agreement, combined with South Korea’s substantial investment pledge to the U.S., “signals a deep, structural integration of South Korea into America’s security and industrial ecosystem,” according to Seong-Hyon Lee of the George H. W. Bush Foundation.
China has already expressed its unease. On Friday, Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, stated that South Korea and the United States should “do what is conducive to regional peace and stability, not otherwise.”