China’s Xi urges cooperation on AI, telefraud in talks with South Korea’s Lee Jae-myung
Meeting between Xi Jinping and Lee Jae-myung on Apec sidelines is the first between the two leaders since the latter assumed office in June
It was the first one-on-one meeting between Xi and Lee since the latter assumed office in June. The meeting took place at the Gyeongju National Museum, the same venue where Lee and US President Donald Trump held a summit on Wednesday.
In his opening remarks, Xi said China and South Korea were cooperation partners that “cannot be separated”.
“China will work with South Korea to accelerate the second-phase negotiations of the bilateral free-trade agreement and to explore the potential for cooperation in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, biopharmaceuticals, green industries and the silver economy,” Xi said, according to state news agency Xinhua.
He also called for cooperation to combat online scams and telefraud at the bilateral and regional levels amid a surge in cases involving the kidnapping and torture of South Koreans in Cambodia.
“Beijing will work with Seoul to strengthen communication, deepen cooperation, expand common interests and jointly tackle challenges,” Xi added.
Following the summit, the two leaders signed memorandums of understanding, including on fighting phishing and online scams, as well as a currency swap agreement.
Lee has positioned himself as a centrist aiming to redefine South Korea’s diplomacy.
He has pledged to pursue a “pragmatic” foreign policy that prioritises South Korea’s crucial military alliance with the United States, which Seoul relies on for military security to deter North Korea, while carefully managing relations with China and Russia.
China has been South Korea’s biggest trading partner for two decades. In 2022, China accounted for the largest share of South Korea’s exports and imports, while South Korea became China’s second-biggest trading partner.
In a friendly gesture, Lee said that while ties between Seoul and Beijing had “not completely recovered yet”, pragmatic relations were necessary.
“Although there may be small hindrances along the way, we will surely overcome these obstacles for better changes and bigger benefits for the governments of Korea and China,” Lee said at a press conference after the conclusion of the Apec summit on Saturday and before his summit with Xi.
Lee also noted China’s “important role” in the stability of the Korean peninsula and said he looked forward to seeing Beijing play a bigger part.
He added that Seoul would continue taking pre-emptive measures to ease military tension and build trust with North Korea to promote peace on the peninsula.
But hours earlier, Pyongyang said denuclearisation was a “pipe dream” that could never be realised, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited Beijing during China’s Victory Day military parade in early September. It was Kim’s first visit to China in six years. He was accompanied by North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, who also visited Beijing in late September.
Referring to the high-level exchanges between China and North Korea, Lee said he viewed these developments positively, hoping that Seoul and Beijing could strengthen communication to help resume dialogue with Pyongyang.
Xi said Beijing would “inject greater positive energy” into regional peace, but the Xinhua report did not specifically mention denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula.
The meeting between Xi and Lee faced an early challenge after Washington approved Seoul’s pursuit of nuclear-powered submarines, a decision announced after the summit between Lee and Trump on Wednesday.
This move was widely seen as a joint effort to strengthen Seoul’s naval capabilities – not just against threats from Pyongyang, but also as a counterbalance to Beijing. It also highlighted Seoul’s growing alignment with Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy to contain China.
In an interview with Time magazine marking his first 100 days in office, Lee acknowledged the complexities of navigating between the US and China.
“We will stand alongside the US in the emerging global order and in supply chains centred around the US, but it is crucial for us to manage our relationship with China carefully to avoid antagonising them,” he said.
Lee’s administration has sought to avoid entangling South Korea in contentious issues such as Taiwan. When asked in the Time interview whether South Korea would come to Taiwan’s aid in the event of an attack by Beijing, Lee sidestepped the question, saying he would answer when “aliens are about to invade the Earth”.
Beijing sees Taiwan as a part of China to be reunited by force, if necessary. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as independent, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the island by force and is committed to arming it for its defence.