Chinese President
Xi Jinping is to visit South Korea next Thursday and Friday (July 3rd-4th)
for a summit with President Park Geun Hye, according to reports.
The visit, though officially to return the courtesy shown by President Park in
visiting Beijing last year, is bound to carry a powerful message for North
Korea, as Xi will become the first leader in the history of the People’s Republic of
China to visit South Korea before visiting China’s ostensible ally.
Former President Jiang Zemin (1993~2003) also visited South Korea before
North Korea in 1995, but he had already visited the North in 1990 as CCP
General-Secretary. Former President Hu Jintao (2003~2013) went to North Korea
in October 2005, just one month before coming to the South for an Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting.
The summit meeting is sure to include discussion
of pending matters concerning North Korea, including the nuclear
issue and unification, as well as means of developing China-South Korea relations and deepening economic ties. President Xi is likely to reconfirm his support
for President Park’s “Korean Peninsula trust process” and her “Dresden Declaration,” and express
the desire to cooperate on achieving peaceful Korean unification.
The greatest degree of attention is bound to focus on
China’s message on the North Korean nuclear issue. Both China and South Korea share
opposition to North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons, but have differing
views on how to combat it. Xi’s government emphasizes the need for
“Korean Peninsula denuclearization,” and stresses the positive impact of returning to the
Six-Party Talks. The Park administration, like the U.S., wants to see action
from North Korea in accordance with past agreements.
Indeed, the “Dresden Declaration,” which stipulates the provision of economic assistance and infrastructure to North Korea, is
premised on the basis that Pyongyang first abandon its nuclear ambitions.
President Park is likely to emphasize this point and ask for President Xi’s
cooperation. This will in turn depend on South Korea’s positive stance on the
Six-Party Talks.
On June 17th,
a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters, “If the
two sides just incite each other and take a hardline, it is not favorable for
dialogue,” pointing up the fact that China wants to see talks. Experts agree that China still benefits from the existence
of North Korea, which has strategic value as a card to play against the U.S.
and Japan. Therefore, pressure from Beijing is bound to remain limited.
Commenting on the summit, the head of China research for the Sejong
Institute, Lee Tae Hwan told Daily NK, “Because South Korea-China relations are
good, the leaders of the two countries can speak frankly about Korean Peninsula
problems and issues in Northeast Asia, and map out plans for peaceful cooperation.”
He went on, “President Xi will fully support President Park’s ‘Korean Peninsula
Trust Process’.”
On the issue of North Korean nuclear
weapons, Lee continued, “China will want to try and solve the problem through dialogue.
They will discuss specific ways to solve the problem, conveying the message
that South Korea and China will place pressure on North Korea if they conduct a further
nuclear test.”
