Restoration of the Relations?
South Korea and China resumed their economic ministerial meeting in 21 months. After the 15th meeting, which took place in Beijing on February 2, South Korean Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon said that the resumption of the meeting in about six weeks from the recent summit talks was a very meaningful chance to mend fences.
During the meeting, the two countries discussed various economic agendas and Samsung Electronics and the National Development and Reform Committee (NDRC) of China updated their memorandum of understanding (MOU) that expired in March last year.
The South Korean Deputy Prime Minister put emphasis on three points during the meeting. Firstly, he mentioned South Korean companies’ hard time since China’s THAAD retaliation, such as the subsidy issue related to electric vehicle batteries, the sale of Lotte Marts in China, resumption of the construction of the Lotte World Tower in China, and resumption of group tours. He also mentioned the necessity of more Chinese companies in the Saemangeum Free Economic Zone along with how to associate China’s One Belt One Road Initiative with South Korea’s New Northern Policy and New Southern Policy.
“NDRC Chairman He Lifeng was very friendly and active throughout the meeting,” the Deputy Prime Minister explained, adding, “We hope that the meeting will lead to an increasing number of tangible positive results with time.”