Time to manage Korea’s relations with China

President Yoon Suk Yeol is keeping up with his diplomatic schedule in Jakarta for the Asean summit, starting with a meeting with Koreans living in Indonesia. During his seven-day trip to the country and India, Yoon plans to strengthen solidarity with Asean members, show Korea’s global middle power diplomacy, and bring the 2030 Expo to Busan through bilateral and multilateral summits with leaders of relevant countries.

Since his inauguration last year, President Yoon has focused on augmenting Korea’s relations with the United States and Japan, and consolidating relations with the European Union given the need for aggressive diplomacy with the U.S.-led group of democracies to build solid security for the country. After making significant achievements at the tripartite summit at Camp David, President Yoon wants to rally broader support from members of Asean and G20.

In an interview with Kompas, a major daily in Indonesia, President Yoon expressed his will to cooperate with China by highlighting the need to “put tripartite cooperation between Korea, Japan and China back on track.” He added that the trilateral cooperation is not aimed at excluding — or jointly responding to — a certain country. In the past, the president indirectly criticized China for “not participating in international sanctions on North Korea in violation of UN resolutions.”

China competes with the U.S. over diplomatic, military and economic frontiers, but is a key player in Asia. At the same time, it is a close ally to North Korea and the largest trade partner of South Korea. We welcome President Yoon’s forward-looking remarks about China in Jakarta.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will reportedly pursue a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Russia in the near future. Security experts are raising the possibility of North Korea joining the joint military drills between Russia and China. As secluded North Korea attempts to get closer to the two countries to confront the South Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral cooperation, security in Northeast Asia is fluctuating sharply. The development could demand a more complex strategy from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan to jointly deal with the deepening nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.

Fortunately, China intends to moderate the speed at which North Korea and Russia get closer to one another. Beijing also lifted the ban on group tours to South Korea last month, which suggests room for the government to engage in practical diplomacy with China. We hope President Yoon helps stabilize Northeast Asia through a tripartite summit with China and Japan followed by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Seoul in the near future.