South Korea’s Lee Jae Myung in Beijing, sees full restoration of China ties in 2026

BEIJING – South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Jan 5 that he wants to open a “new phase” for relations with China, after meeting President Xi Jinping during Mr Lee’s first trip to Beijing since taking office last June.

“This summit will be an important opportunity to make 2026 the first year of full-scale restoration of Korea-China relations,” Mr Lee said.

“I believe that efforts to develop the strategic cooperation and partnership between the two countries into an irreversible trend of the times will continue.”

It was Mr Lee’s second meeting with Mr Xi in just two months, a sign of Beijing’s keen interest in boosting economic collaboration and tourism with Seoul as China’s relations with North-east Asia’s other big economy, Japan, reached the lowest point in years in a dispute over policy towards Taiwan.

In comments reported by China’s official Xinhua news agency, Xi made an unusually direct reference to the shared Chinese and Korean experience of resisting Japan during World War Two.

“More than 80 years ago, China and South Korea made tremendous national sacrifices and won the victory against Japanese militarism,” Mr Xi told Mr Lee.

He added that the two countries should “safeguard peace and stability in North-east Asia”.

North Korea missile launch

Hours before the visit, North Korea

launched at least two ballistic missiles

, its first such launch in two months. Leader Kim Jong Un cited the need for Pyongyang to maintain a powerful nuclear deterrent.

South Korea and China “affirmed the importance of resuming dialogue with North Korea and agreed to continue exploring creative ways to reduce tensions and build peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Mr Wi Sung-lac, Lee’s security adviser, told a press briefing after.

Mr Lee, elected in a snap election in June, has promised to strengthen ties with the United States without antagonising China, while seeking to reduce tensions with the North.

Beijing, for its part, has been seeking stronger ties with Seoul since a rupture with Japan, whose Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in November that Tokyo could take military action if Beijing attacked Taiwan.

Mr Xi, citing an “increasingly chaotic and complicated international situation”, said China and South Korea should make “correct strategic choices”.

The two countries “should look after each other’s core interests and major concerns, and insist on properly resolving differences through dialogue and consultation,” Mr Xi told Mr Lee.

Professor at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Seok Byoung-hoon, said Mr Xi’s comments suggested China wants Seoul to side with Beijing rather than Washington over cross-strait relations with Taiwan, and respect Beijing’s position regarding the US seizure of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.

Cooperation agreements signed, economic expansion eyed

The two countries signed 15 agreements at the summit, according to South Korean and Chinese broadcasters, including documents on technology, intellectual property and transportation cooperation.

Chinese and South Korean companies

signed nine cooperation agreements

, South Korea’s Trade Ministry said, naming Alibaba International, Lenovo and South Korean retailer Shinsegae among companies that signed deals.

Mr Lee arrived for his four-day state visit on Jan 4, along with a delegation of more than 200 South Korean business leaders including Samsung Electronics chairman Jay Y. Lee, SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won, and Hyundai Motor Group executive chairman Chung Eui-sun.

South Korea and China need to expand economic cooperation in artificial intelligence, President Lee said, and could also collaborate in consumer goods such as household goods, beauty and food products and cultural content such as movies, music, games and sports.

However, South Korean Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik said in a radio interview on Jan 5 that Beijing was unlikely to lift an unofficial ban on Korean culture any time soon.

After a state banquet at the Great Hall of the People, Mr Lee snapped a selfie of the presidential couples, featuring a smiling Mr Xi, using a Chinese-made Xiaomi smartphone.

Mr Xi gave Mr Lee the phone during a state visit to South Korea late in 2025, when the Chinese president jokingly urged Mr Lee to “check if there’s a backdoor.”

“The image quality is certainly good, right?“ Mr Lee said in a social media post with a beaming face emoji.

“Thanks to you, I got the picture of a lifetime haha,” he added. REUTERS