Hopes for Sino-ROK ties boosted

The first phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Yoon Suk-yeol, president-elect of the Republic of Korea, underlines the importance of bilateral ties and shows that the two countries can explore cooperation despite their differences, experts say.

Xi spoke with Yoon on March 25.

"Maintaining a good relationship with every country is essential for every country," said Bong Youngshik, a research fellow at the Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies in Seoul. Bong said it is a "false dichotomy" to think that the ROK needs to choose between China and the United States.

Noting how Xi emphasized the non-zero-sum international order, Bong said the ROK government is expressing a similar philosophy－that it can pursue mutual interest and cooperation with the US without jeopardizing the bilateral partnership with China, and vice versa.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of China-ROK diplomatic ties. Xi said the two neighbors need to take this as an opportunity to further uphold mutual respect, strengthen political trust, and enhance people-to-people friendship, with a view to the steady and sustained growth of bilateral ties.

Given the many challenges facing the international community, Xi said China and the ROK as "inseparable partners of cooperation" have a responsibility to maintain regional peace and promote global prosperity.

Yoon, whose inauguration will take place on May 10, expressed the ROK's readiness to step up high-level exchanges with China, enhance mutual trust and promote people-to-people friendship, in order to take ROK-China relations to a new level.

Noting this was the first time that Xi has spoken with a president-elect of the ROK, Ramon Pacheco Pardo, head of the Department of European and International Studies at King's College London, said this underscores the importance that both countries give to their bilateral relationship.

"President-elect Yoon has made it clear that he is going to try to cooperate with China on (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea)," Pacheco Pardo said in an interview with ROK TV network Arirang News.

During the phone call with Xi, Yoon said closer cooperation between the ROK and China will serve their respective development paths and benefit their peoples, and also contribute to peace and stability in Northeast Asia.

When meeting with the Chinese ambassador to the ROK, Xing Haiming, on March 11, two days after the election, Yoon said the ROK is willing to deepen its communication and cooperation with China on bilateral, regional and international issues.

Robert Kelly, professor of international relations at the ROK's Pusan National University, said China-ROK relations may face headwinds as Yoon seems more hawkish than the outgoing President Moon Jae-in.

Closer relationship sought

But aiming for a closer relationship with the US does not mean the ROK would be trying to contain China or join an anti-China alliance, said Kelly, noting the ROK has been trying hard to "keep their foot in both camps".

Kelly cited the ROK's membership of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world's largest free-trade pact, of which China is also a signatory.

Exports account for about half of the ROK's economy and China is its biggest trading partner. In 2021, shipments to China rose 22.9 percent year-on-year to $162.94 billion, according to the ROK's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Bong said he expects pragmatism to be the key word for the new government in terms of national security and foreign relations, rather than an ideological pursuit of any improvement of the security conditions on the Korean Peninsula.

"The new line of foreign policy and national policy of the Yoon Sukyeol government will be far less ideological-driven but more based upon pragmatic transaction such as a quid pro quo and a verifiable and substantial give-and-take kind of diplomatic approach," said Bong.