[APEC Summit] U.S.-China-China-Japan trilateral talks…’trilateral talks’ can’t happen Why?

[iNews24 Reporter Kim Bo-seon] After attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, President Yoon Seok-youl is set to visit the UK on the 20th. Despite a series of meetings held among major countries, including the US-China and China-Japan summits, the much-anticipated South Korea-China summit did not materialize. The opposition party has criticized this as a ‘lone failure of the summit.’

The presidential office maintains that there were no pressing issues between South Korea and China, hence the decision to postpone the official meeting. However, this leaves the task of alleviating strained South Korea-China relations and revitalizing bilateral relations.

A presidential office official said on the 19th, “The three-day event schedule was very tight, and there wasn’t much time due to the APEC summit and the India-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).” He added, “The US and China had a lot of issues that needed to be resolved. This was the case in both bilateral relations and global politics. Japan and China also had issues that needed to be resolved.” He further explained, “Regarding South Korea-China relations, the president recently met with Premier Li Keqiang, and Prime Minister Han Duk-soo had a conversation with President Xi Jinping, so pressing issues between the two countries have been somewhat resolved.”

Despite the tight schedule, China focused its diplomatic efforts on the US-China summit and continued to the China-Japan summit, pushing the South Korea-China summit to a lower priority.

During the APEC summit, US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their second summit on November 15 (local time), a year after their first meeting at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, in November last year. The following day, President Xi also had a face-to-face meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, their first in a year.

The South Korea-China summit, which was uncertain until the last minute, did not take place. President Yoon and President Xi met briefly for about three minutes before the start of the APEC Session 1 on the 16th. Although this was their first meeting in a year since the South Korea-China summit on the sidelines of the G20 summit last November, it did not lead to an official meeting.

At the time, President Yoon said, “I hope this APEC summit will yield good results,” to which President Xi responded, “I am confident of good results. I hope that South Korea and China will cooperate with each other to achieve this.” When President Yoon thanked him for welcoming and hosting Prime Minister Han Duk-soo at the Hangzhou Asian Games, President Xi reportedly replied, “I had a great meeting with Prime Minister Han.”

The ruling Democratic Party criticized, “The South Korea-China summit did not take place while the US-China and China-Japan summits were held. Isn’t it embarrassing that the South Korea-China summit was the only one that failed?”

In response, a presidential office official said, “Although the meeting was brief, we exchanged pleasantries and promised to meet again. The foreign ministers of the two countries are expected to meet in the near future.” He added, “South Korea and China are sufficiently communicating through dialogue on issues that need to be resolved.”

After spending a day in Korea, President Yoon will head to the UK on the 20th. After the UK visit, he will move to Paris, France, to engage in the final diplomatic battle to host the Busan Expo ahead of the International Exhibition Bureau (BIE) vote.

Presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon said about the Busan Expo diplomacy, “The president will make a final effort through BIE representative negotiation dinners and luncheons, and national holiday receptions on-site.” He added, “Ahead of the BIE vote on the 28th, a person of international influence from our country will present the final presentation.”