President Lee Jae-myung on the 7th addressed China's "ban on the Korean wave" (限韓令), saying, "Fruit falls when it is ripe," and, "It will be resolved in stages and gradually." The comment repeated what Chinese President Xi Jinping said in response to Lee's proposal for "exchanges in Korean cultural content" during this Korea-China summit. Earlier, Xi said, "Three feet of ice do not melt at once, and fruit falls by itself when it ripens," agreeing only to exchanges in the fields of go and soccer.
That day, Lee held a luncheon briefing with the traveling press corps at a hotel in Shanghai, China. Lee said, "China is an important neighbor for our economy, security, and culture in every area," adding, "The Korea-China relationship is necessary for both sides. There is no need to provoke, exclude, or confront unnecessarily."
A South Korean president is paying a state visit to China for the first time in nine years since former President Moon Jae-in in 2017. It also comes two months after Lee and Xi, meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in late November last year in Gyeongju, pledged a "full restoration of relations." There were high expectations that this visit would open the way to lifting the ban on the Korean wave, but in reality, references were limited to certain areas.
On this, Lee said, "In fact, the Chinese government has said there is no ban on the Korean wave, but this time the phrasing was different," adding, "President Xi said fruit falls when it is ripe, and that is the accurate expression. If things change suddenly, it would mean something they said did not exist did exist, so we need to understand such feelings on both sides." He continued, "Spring does not arrive all at once; it takes time," and said, "Within what is possible, it will be resolved gradually, step by step, in an orderly and healthy way."
◇ "The suspect in the Coupang case is Chinese? So what?"
He also repeatedly emphasized resolving anti-Korean and anti-China sentiments between the two peoples. Lee said, "Over a long period, anti-Korean and anti-China sentiments have broadly and continuously worsened, and both countries have suffered major damage, with Korea suffering more," adding, "Baseless and unnecessary incitement of anti-China sentiment and hate should not happen."
Regarding the point that issues such as structures in the West Sea, fine dust, and the "Coupang personal information leak case" with a Chinese suspect are surfacing as anti-China sentiment, he said, "Baseless and unnecessary hate-mongering should be met with vigilance and strictly sanctioned." He then said, "The criminal at Coupang is Chinese. So what?" and asked, "If it were a Japanese person, would you start hating Japanese people from then on? If there are Americans at Coupang, should we hate Americans like crazy—why don't you do that?"
On the Chinese structures within the provisional measures zone in the West Sea, he said, "They agreed to withdraw the management facilities, and going forward, through working-level consultations, we agreed to clearly delimit the boundary of the waters to remove the cause of conflict." He added, "The Chinese side explained that the facilities were fish farms and facilities managing them," and said, "We obtained a response from the Chinese side that they will withdraw, and accordingly, the facilities will be relocated."
He also raised issue with "prosecutors' indictments," even though there was no question about it. Lee said, "Strangely, when it involves Lee Jae-myung or the Democratic Party, people defend prosecutors by saying the court's ruling (of acquittal) was wrong," adding, "Isn't that odd? Why question why there was no appeal? You should blame the indictment."
He added, "Isn't it normal to criticize an excessive indictment when an acquittal comes out?" and said, "If prosecutors indict and the court finds the indictment was wrong, you would normally criticize the prosecutors for indicting wrongly." He continued, "If the court's ruling is not wrong, then if they appeal, they should be scolded instead," adding, "Yet oddly, when prosecutors do not appeal, people criticize, 'Why didn't you appeal?' That is a problem."
◇ "Xi Jinping's remark to 'stand on the right side' sounded like a quote from Confucius"
Regarding Xi's remark at the Korea-China summit to "stand on the right side of history," he answered, "I took it as a quote from Confucius. I understood it as saying we should live decently." Lee said, "In a closed-door setting, I said we should 'respect each country's core interests and concerns,'" adding, "I made it clear that relations with Japan and nuclear-powered submarines are as important to us as relations with China."
Lee also said he asked China to play the role of mediator on Korean Peninsula issues, including North Korea's nuclear problem. He said, "All channels are blocked for us, there is not only zero trust but only hostility," adding, "To ease hostility and start talks requires time and effort, and efforts by neighbors, so we asked China to take on that role, and China said it would make efforts."
He said they also agreed in principle on "annual meetings" to restore ties with China. Lee said, "I told President Xi it would be good for the leaders to meet at least once a year, and he said it was a good idea." He added, "We also need to expand high-level talks," and said, "We need to raise the level of dialogue in the military field as well. Practical cooperation such as joint search-and-rescue drills in the West Sea is also necessary."