Presidential Office: “Discussion of Korea-China Summit Underway…Cannot Guarantee Its Establishment”

President Yoon Seok-yeol, who is visiting the United States, attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit held in San Francisco on the 16th (local time) and held summits with Peru, Japan, Chile, and Vietnam, raising concerns about recent military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. It was also reported that President Yoon had a conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the conference venue that day.

Kim Tae-hyo, the first deputy director of the National Security Office, said at a local press room briefing on the same day, “In today’s consecutive meetings, President Yoon emphasized that the military cooperation between North Korea and Russia is a threat to world security and discussed ways to cooperate against illegal cooperation that undermines the normative order.” However, Kim added, “Each country we talked to has a different way of cooperating, and how each country should cooperate to limit and block illegal activities is a matter of security,” and explained, “Most of them agree.”

President Yoon agreed to strengthen cooperation in various fields such as defense, supply chain, development cooperation, and infrastructure during his first summit with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte. President Yoon also held his first summit meeting after taking office with Chilean President Gabriel Boric and expressed his desire to build a ‘core mineral partnership’ with Chile, the world’s largest lithium holder.

A conversation with Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong was also held for about 15 minutes before the start of the APEC summit ‘Session 1’. The two leaders agreed to systematically promote government and corporate exchanges for the growth momentum of trade and investment in semiconductors and automobiles, and to expand support for youth exchange activities.

President Yoon also held a separate three-way meeting with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that day. Deputy Director Kim relayed through a briefing that President Biden said, “As the President of the United States, I was able to greatly lighten my burden thanks to President Yoon Seok-yeol and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan.” In a private conversation, President Yoon said, “I positively evaluate the cooperation between Korea, the United States, and Japan,” and “The leaders of the United States and Japan agree with my philosophy and belief about the correlation between security and economy,” according to a presidential office official.

President Yoon shook hands and had a three-minute conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the conference venue before the start of ‘APEC Session 1’ that day. The two leaders were pleased to meet again about a year after the G20 summit held in Bali, Indonesia, in November last year, according to the presidential office.

According to the presidential office, when President Yoon wished for good results from this APEC, President Xi responded, “I am confident of good results. I hope that Korea and China will cooperate for this.” When President Yoon thanked him for welcoming and hosting Prime Minister Han Deok-soo during the Hangzhou Asian Games, President Xi replied, “I had a great meeting with Prime Minister Han.”

The possibility of a separate meeting with President Xi during this APEC summit is also being raised. A high-ranking official of the presidential office said at a local press room briefing on the same day, “There is one more day left until departure (tomorrow), and the Korea-China summit is under discussion,” but added, “However, due to the tight schedule of the two leaders, I cannot guarantee that it will actually happen.”

In response to a question on why a Korea-China summit has not yet been confirmed while President Xi has held bilateral summits with the leaders of the United States and Japan, the official explained, “China has to focus all its energy on the meeting with the United States first, and then decide how compactly it will meet and return with which country in the available time.” He continued, “So after the United States, it had a short meeting with Japan, and whether the Korea-China summit will be held is a separate issue,” and added, “Both countries are continuously judging whether it would be better to hold a meeting and return through strategic judgment.”

When asked whether the issue of recent military cooperation between North Korea and Russia came up in the conversation between President Yoon and President Xi that day, he replied, “We are conducting diplomacy by treating the North Korea-Russia arms trade as a separate issue from China.” He added, “We have had several meetings, but we are not connecting and discussing the issue of North Korea-Russia military cooperation with China.”