President Lee Jae-myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the 5th reached a consensus at their summit to "gradually expand exchanges in cultural content" between the two countries. They will start by promoting exchanges in go and soccer, while dramas and films will go through working-level consultations. Popular culture exchanges including K-pop also appear likely to be discussed at the working level going forward. It is notable in that talks have begun on lifting the "ban on Korean content," which started amid the 2016 THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) situation.
Wi Sung-lac, chief of the Office of National Security, announced the summit results with these points at a press center in Beijing, China, that night. The Korea-China summit came a little over two months after the two met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in late Nov. last year and declared a "full restoration of Korea-China relations." With a South Korean president making a state visit to China for the first time in nine years, there were high expectations that the ban on Korean content would begin to be lifted and that economic cooperation would expand.
At a briefing, the Deputy Minister said, "We were able to form an advanced consensus on restoring exchanges in cultural content between Korea and China," adding, "Both sides reached a consensus to gradually expand exchanges starting with areas acceptable to both, and agreed to advance the details." The Deputy Minister went on, "For example, we decided to promote exchanges in go and soccer, and for other dramas and films, we agreed to seek progress through consultations at the working level."
Exchanges in the field of go reportedly began when the Chinese side brought up that "President Lee likes go and plays it well." The Deputy Minister said, "There was a somewhat longer conversation about go than other issues," adding, "In that vein, there was a positive-toned response to try go exchanges." Regarding other cultural content such as K-pop, the Deputy Minister said, "There was no immediate response, and there was talk to proceed gradually through working-level consultations."
China has denied the very existence of the "ban on Korean content." It reportedly maintained its existing position at the summit that day. However, during the talks, there was light joking to the effect of "there is no need to argue whether it (the ban on Korean content) exists or not," accompanied by laughter, the Deputy Minister said. The Deputy Minister added, "It is difficult to predict what will happen to the ban on Korean content," but "we formed a consensus to take a step-by-step approach."
They also discussed sensitive issues such as the West Sea structure and nuclear-powered submarines (hereafter nuclear subs). China has installed a large steel structure without authorization in the Korea-China Provisional Measures Zone (PMG) in the West Sea. However, considering that the boundary in the West Sea has not been finalized, the two countries agreed to arrange a vice minister-level meeting starting this year to discuss "boundary delimitation." The Deputy Minister said, "Cautiously, we are led to expect that there can be progress." The two leaders reportedly agreed that "because the boundary has not been finalized, restraint and responsible behavior are important."
On nuclear subs that the South Korean government is seeking to introduce, the Deputy Minister said, "We fully explained our position to China," adding, "It is difficult to present detailed information, but we conveyed our position in detail and there was nothing particularly problematic." Earlier, China had taken a guarded stance, saying, "We hope South Korea and the United States will fulfill their nonproliferation obligations." The South Korean government is trying to persuade China on the grounds of "responding to security threats" from the North's expansion of nuclear weapons, including nuclear submarines.
The summit that day ran 90 minutes, 30 minutes longer than initially scheduled. According to the Deputy Minister, the two leaders spent more than four hours together, including the official welcome ceremony arranged by the Chinese government, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing ceremony, and a state banquet.
In his opening remarks that day, Xi said, "We must stand firmly on the right side of history and make the right strategic choice." Some interpreted this as pressure to "respect China's position" on issues such as the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by the United States and the Japan-China conflict over cross-strait (China and Taiwan) issues. However, the Deputy Minister said, "China often says it stands on the right side of history. It is not new," adding, "Such remarks were not repeated or discussed after the opening remarks."