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Philippines on Nov. 13. The two men are in Manila to attend the 31st ASEAN Summit. (Yonhap News)

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed to do their best to bring exchange and cooperation efforts between their two sides back on track as soon as possible. The two leaders met on Nov. 13 at the Sofitel Hotel in downtown Manila, where they are attending the ASEAN+3 Summit and East Asia Summit.

Seated across from Li, Moon requested his attention and cooperation in helping to relieve issues for South Korean businesses [in China] and promote economic, cultural, and tourism exchange between the two sides.

“Many South Korean businesses have experienced problems because of the stagnation in South Korea-China relations due to the THAAD issue,” Moon told Li.

Moon specifically mentioned a swift resumption of senior-level consultative bodies on economic issues, the reversal of a Chinese policy denying subsidies on batteries produced by South Korean businesses, and the lifting of anti-dumping regulations on South Korean imports. He further proposed “advancements in the Korean won-Chinese yuan direct transaction market formed in the two countries, swift implementation of areas of financial cooperation, and a joint response on fine particle dust,” Blue House Senior Secretary to the President for Public Relations Yoon Young-chan stated.

In response, Li said it would be “difficult to avoid some concrete and sensitive issues as China-South Korean relations develop,” but added that the “prospects for practical cooperation by China and South Korea are very bright.”

“China and South Korea have a very complementary relationship, and we can be confident in the future for their relationship,” he added. While his reply did not individually address Moon’s specific demands, it did read as a clear signal that the two sides’ relationship in economic, social, and cultural terms may resume.

In introductory remarks ahead of the meeting that day, Moon mentioned reading a passage in a classical Chinese text saying, “It is not yet spring when but one blossom has bloomed. For it to truly be spring, all the different flowers must blossom together.”

“I hope that my meeting today with the Premier will be an opportunity to cultivate fertile soil that allow various flowers of true cooperation to bloom,” he said.

“I very much hope that many different flowers of exchange and cooperation will soon bloom in all areas of politics, economy, culture, tourism, and human exchange, allowing people in both our countries to sense that spring has truly arrived for South Korea-China relations,” he continued, in an expression of his hopes for practical measures from Beijing to fully restore the two sides’ relationship.

Li responded by quoting another Chinese saying.

“When the spring comes, it is the river water that warms first, so that the ducks on the water can sense the warmth of spring,” he said.

“I hope that through joint efforts by both sides, we are able to swiftly return China-South Korea relations to a normal trajectory,” he added.

Li also noted that the two sides “have been working step by step to address sensitive issues, and active changes are now under way in China-South Korea relations.”

“I actively laud President Moon’s efforts in this process,” he said.

Moon previously reached an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping to “swiftly restore exchange and cooperation in all areas to a normal track” during a Nov. 11 summit while the two were visiting Vietnam for the APEC Summit. The declaration of plans to normalize relations in his meeting with Li two days later has some predicting rapid progress ahead for South Korea-China relations.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in holds a summit with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Sofitel Hotel in Manila

By Kim Bo-hyeop and Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporters

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