Refining Korea’s diplomacy toward China

Yeh Young-june
The author is the chief editor of the JoongAng Sunday.

A summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping did not take place. But it should not be a surprise since a summit was not prearranged on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in San Francisco. The fallout contrasts with the bromance between President Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The two leaders held bilateral talks and even a joint lecture at Stanford University.

The question is whether the Korean president didn’t, or couldn’t, talk separately with the Chinese leader. A presidential official who accompanied the president to the APEC venue said, “The discussions on the summit were ongoing until the last minute.” That means Beijing did not comply with Seoul’s offer. Xi held talks with U.S. President Joe Biden, the host of the APEC summit, as well as Japanese leader Kishida. Xi also separately met with heads of Brunei, Peru, Mexico and Fiji.

We later learned that the Chinese foreign ministry had not dispatched any officials in charge of Korean affairs or a Korean interpreter to San Francisco. That suggests Beijing had no plans for a separate summit from the beginning. This should have startled Seoul. Korea sent Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games in September. Xi separately greeted Han at the time. But this time, he gave President Yoon the cold shoulder.

Did something irksome happen between the two countries? According to many sources, there was nothing in particular that could have offended Beijing. One source said that Xi simply might not have had a specific issue that called for a separate meeting with Yoon.

Has the Korean president become a person Beijing does not want to meet unless some important event comes up? It could possibly mean that Korea has fallen off Beijing’s priority list. However, like it or not, the two countries still need one another.

The real reason for the botched summit may be Beijing’s traditional way of taming another state. China has a track record of snubbing some states, as it did at the recent APEC forum in San Francisco, or going as far as slapping foreign countries with economic retaliation even though it goes against international norms. Having cemented its alliance with the United States and restored ties with Japan, Korea’s next diplomatic move is to stabilize the relationship with China. Well aware of the tactic, Beijing may be playing hard to get to annoy Seoul.

It would have been great if the Yoon-Xi summit had been held in San Francisco, but Korea shouldn’t fret just because a summit meeting failed to take place on the margins of the APEC meeting. A summit would be desirable, but Seoul is not that desperate. In fact, the turndown can help Seoul build a better strategy to deal with Beijing.

To do that, Korea must draw up a more elaborate diplomatic strategy toward China. It does not have to try to win the favor of Beijing or irk another party. President Yoon should refrain from making assertive remarks about China’s aggressive behavior in the South China Sea and toward Taiwan. Provoking China is different from maintaining dignity in diplomacy. Beijing showed displeasure when Yoon made remarks on Taiwan in his interview with The Telegraph. We cannot have a relationship with China in our favor if Beijing is offended. China may not respond immediately to Biden who described Xi as “a dictator,” but it does not forget what’s been said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is due to arrive in Busan for a three-way meeting with his Korean and Japanese counterparts. He will be meeting separately with Korean Foreign Minster Park Jin. Wang previously planned a visit to Korea in December, but canceled it at the last minute. Seoul must use the momentum to build up a mature relationship. Once lost, another opportunity does not come easily, and an ill-formed diplomatic relationship is hard to mend.