Sino-South Korean ties will remain tense despite the two-day visit of the South Korean vice foreign minister to China on Wednesday, even as his trip will pave the way for talks at the Group of 20 (G20) summit. [Special coverage]
Lim Sung-nam visited China Wednesday for an exchange of views on relevant matters related to the G20 summit from September 4-5 in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a daily briefing on Wednesday.
He will stay in Beijing until Thursday, during which he will meet with his Chinese counterpart, Liu Zhenmin, and will likely meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the Yonhap News Agency reported on Wednesday.
"Bilateral ties, including the deployment of the advanced US missile defense system Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in South Korea, will be the focus of the meeting between Lim and Liu," Zheng Jiyong, director of the Center for Korean Studies at the Shanghai-based Fudan University, told the Global Times.
Lim's trip, just days before the G20 summit, is meant to arrange bilateral talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Park Geun-hye at the summit, Zheng said, explaining that Seoul hopes to use the G20 summit to soften China's stance on the THAAD deployment, as China does not want disagreements over THAAD to add uncertainties to the summit.
"It is very likely that the two countries will stay silent on the THAAD deployment during the summit to ensure a smooth meeting between Xi and Park," said Zheng.
However, China will not change its stance on the deployment merely for the summit, Zheng noted, saying that the deployment threatens the stability and disturbs the balance on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia. He added China-South Korea ties will remain intense after the summit.
Last week, Wang reiterated China's firm opposition to the deployment on the sidelines of the 8th China-Japan-South Korea foreign ministers' meeting.
