President Lee Jae-myung on the 4th paid a state visit to Beijing, China, at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Lee begins his first diplomatic schedule of the new year with a four-day, three-night itinerary, including a summit with Xi and a state banquet. It is the first state visit to China by a South Korean president in 9 years since former President Moon Jae-in in 2017.
Lee arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport in the afternoon on Air Force One. From the Chinese side, Minister Yin Hejun of the Ministry of Science and Technology and Ambassador to Korea Dai Bing and his spouse came to the airport to greet Lee and the first lady. China signals its relations with a counterpart through the rank of officials receiving foreign leaders at the airport. The appearance of a minister-level official is unusual.
When former President Park Geun-hye paid a state visit to China in 2013, Vice Minister-level Zhang Yesui, executive vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, came to greet her, and during the visits by former Presidents Moon and Lee Myung-bak, Deputy Minister-level Kong Xuanyou, assistant minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and He Yafei, assistant minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, respectively greeted them at the airport.
On the first day of the trip, in the evening, Lee will hold a meeting over dinner with Korean residents in China. The Korea-China summit with Xi is on the 5th. It will be about two months since the two leaders last met for talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju in November last year. On the 6th, Lee will meet with Premier Li Qiang, China's economic chief, and have a luncheon.
According to the presidential office, at the summit with Xi, Lee will sign more than 10 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) to support expanded exchanges across the economy, industry, climate and transportation. A large economic delegation organized around the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry also accompanied the visit. Using this summit as an opportunity, the two countries plan to conclude MOUs between corporations and institutions for cooperation on manufacturing supply chains and the consumer goods market, as well as cooperation in services and content.
Sensitive pending issues between the two countries, such as the "West Sea structure" and the "Korean Wave ban" (restrictions on the Korean Wave), will also be on the agenda. China maintains that "there is no Korean Wave ban itself," but in effect it has imposed broad restrictions on Korea's culture and tourism industries. As our government has said it expects to solidify the foundation for a "full restoration of Korea-China relations," attention is on whether there will be progress.
Previously, Office of National Security Deputy Minister Wi Sung-lac, in a briefing on the 2nd, presented "stable management of sensitive pending issues between Korea and China" as one of the expected outcomes of the trip. Wi said, "In line with the full restoration of Korea-China relations, we will make the West Sea a sea of peace and shared prosperity," and added, "We will gradually and step by step restore cultural content exchanges between the two countries."