South Korea's Lee to meet Xi in China as Japan tensions simmer

Hyonhee Shin, Bloomberg News on Dec 30, 2025

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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during his inaugural state visit to the world’s No. 2 economy, just as tensions simmer between Beijing and Tokyo.

Lee will become the first sitting South Korean president to travel to China since 2019 when he arrives in the capital on Sunday for a three-day stop. He’ll then travel to Shanghai from Jan. 6-7, his spokesperson said Tuesday at a press briefing.

“China and the ROK are each other’s important neighbor and cooperation partner,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular briefing in Beijing on Tuesday, confirming the visit and using the acronym for the Republic of Korea.

Lee’s trip comes less than two months after Xi made his first trip in 11 years to South Korea, where he stressed the importance of “peace and stability in the region” on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Since then, relations between China and Japan have spiraled after Sanae Takaichi became her nation’s first sitting prime minister to publicly say Tokyo could deploy its military if Beijing attacked self-ruled Taiwan. China has since encouraged its citizens to cut travel to Japan and restricted imports of Japanese seafood, while demanding the country’s new leader retract her comments.

Lee indicated earlier this month that he could play a mediating role between Asia’s top economies, saying during a press conference that “taking sides would only escalate the conflict.”

A slew of business executives will join Lee’s inaugural trip to China since taking office, according to Yonhap News, which named Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee, SK Group’s Chey Tae-won, and Hyundai Motor Group’s Euisun Chung.

Spokespeople for Samsung and Hyundai told Bloomberg News declined to comment on their CEOs’ schedules. Representatives for other companies didn’t respond to requests for comment.

While Lee’s predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol prioritized strengthening defense and economic relations with the U.S. and Japan to counter threats from North Korea, Lee has sought a more balanced approach, signaling caution about taking sides amid intensifying U.S.-China rivalry — a move that could smooth commercial ties.

Economic links between the two countries have weakened in recent years, with Korean firms facing tougher competition in China and fallout from a past dispute over a U.S. missile defense system. Tensions rose again when Beijing sanctioned the U.S. units of Hanwha Ocean Co. over its investment plans in America, although those measures were later put on hold.

North Korea will likely also be on the agenda during Lee’s trip after Kim Jong Un made a rare overseas trip to China this year for a military parade. That visit came as Pyongyang pushes to deepen defense ties with Russia, adding to signs of a more emboldened Kim, who has vowed to expand his country’s nuclear capabilities “without limit.”

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(With assistance from Jing Li and James Mayger.)