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Liu Zhen

Laura Zhou

Beijing welcomes South and North Korea moving towards peaceful coexistence and calls on Washington to change its “hostile policy” on Pyongyang, according to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
In talks with his counterpart, Cho Hyun, in Seoul on Wednesday, Wang said China was “always committed to playing a constructive role in the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula”.
But he sidestepped a reporter’s question after the meeting about whether Beijing could help broker a summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to local media reports.
“That is a matter for North Korea and the United States to decide,” Wang said. “In particular, the US should change the hostile policy towards North Korea that it has maintained for a long time.”
During the talks, Wang urged South Korea – an ally of the United States – to maintain its autonomy on foreign policy, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement on the meeting.
“We hope that South Korea will proceed from its own fundamental interests and develop its external relations in an independent, autonomous, balanced and non-conflicting manner,” Wang said.
Relations deteriorated between Beijing and Seoul in 2016 when South Korea agreed to host the American THAAD missile defence system on its soil, which China viewed as a security threat.
With ties improving, Wang and Cho agreed on Wednesday to speed up negotiations on stage two of a free-trade agreement, to boost cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence and high technology, and to increase cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
They also agreed that China would provide giant pandas to South Korea, according to a statement from the South Korean foreign ministry.
China typically loans the iconic animals to countries with which it has friendly relations in what is known as “panda diplomacy”. But not when tensions escalate – Japan does not have any pandas for the first time since 1972, after the last two were returned to China in January amid strained relations.


According to the South Korean foreign ministry, Wang will meet President Lee Jae Myung at the Cheong Wa Dae presidential office on Thursday.
He will also hold separate talks and attend a lunch with national security adviser Wi Sung-lac to discuss the security situation on the Korean peninsula and other issues of mutual interest, according to Yonhap News Agency.
Relations between the two Asian neighbours have thawed over the past year since Lee took office and embraced a more pragmatic approach to China – a pivot from his predecessor Yoon Suk-yeol, whose pro-US alignment had unsettled Beijing.
A sweeping US trade war – hitting both partners and rivals – as well as the ongoing friction between Beijing and Tokyo, has driven China to shore up ties with South Korea.
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited South Korea on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November, and Lee visited Beijing in January, when he called for a “new phase” in ties with China.
Wang’s trip came soon after US-South Korea military drills were cut by six days in line with an order from Trump to scale back the joint exercises, citing his good relationship with Pyongyang.
In a social media post on Sunday, Trump also said his call was linked to South Korea not helping the US with the war in Iran.

Citing three unnamed sources, Politico reported on Monday that Trump was frustrated with the slow progress of Seoul’s US$350 billion investment commitment in the US, made last year as part of a preliminary trade deal in exchange for lowering a punitive duty on South Korean imports.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Trump was pushing for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim during his next trip to Asia, which could happen in November when world leaders gather at the Apec summit in Shenzhen in southern China.
Critics have said the latest directive – which is in line with Trump’s transactional approach and scepticism about the value of America’s alliances – could further shake perceptions of Washington’s reliability in Asia.
Just days before Trump’s call, the US pulled its last aircraft carrier out of Asia and diverted it to the Middle East to support its operation against Iran.
Seoul has said it was not told in advance of Trump’s directive to cut back the joint exercises.
On Tuesday, Lee repeated his call for complete military independence from the US – which hosts a joint command to defend the Asian ally from North Korea – and pushed for faster acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.


There has meanwhile been speculation that Lee may seek Beijing’s support to formally end the 1950-53 Korean war, a proposal made on Saturday during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the country’s liberation from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.
The two Koreas are technically still at war as the agreement – signed by China, North Korea and the United Nations Command led by the US Army – was an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
Xi visited North Korea in June – soon after he hosted back-to-back trips to China by Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin – in a signal of Beijing’s influence on Pyongyang.


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China-South Korea relations

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi calls on US to change ‘hostile policy’ on North Korea

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) meets his South Korean counterpart, Cho Hyun, in Seoul on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

South Korean soldiers take part in an anti-terror drill in Seoul on Wednesday during an ongoing joint military exercise with the US. Photo: AP

Wang Yi heads to Seoul as Trump cuts South Korea drills, opening door for China

Donald Trump posted a call to “substantially” reduce US-South Korea military drills a day before the allies began their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise. Photo: Handout

A US army base near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas, in Dongducheon, South Korea. Photo: Reuters

South Korea accelerates military self-reliance over Trump’s ‘unpredictability’

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on Tuesday, Photo: Yonhap/AP

Jang Do-young, public affairs director of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Ryan Donald, public affairs director of the United Nations Command, attend a press briefing in Seoul on the 2026 Ulchi drills. Photo: Reuters

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump meet on the south side of the Military Demarcation Line in the Joint Security Area of Panmunjom on June 30, 2019. Photo: AFP

A US Army vehicle crosses a bridge in Yeoju on the Namhan River during the 2025 Ulchi military drill. Photo: AP

A TV screen at Seoul Station shows a news report that North Korea fired a ballistic missile towards the East Sea last week. Photo: EPA

US, South Korea slash joint military drills by half as Trump eyes Kim summit

US Army’s soldiers conduct a training exercise on a river in Yeoncheon, South Korea, on Tuesday. Photo: AP

US Forces Korea commander General Xavier Brunson leaves the Defence Ministry in Seoul after discussing cutbacks to the Ulchi exercise on Tuesday. Photo: Yonhap/AP

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (second right) speaks during a cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on Tuesday. Photo: Yonhap/AP

Trump’s decision to scale back South Korea drills unsettles Asian allies: ‘makes no sense’

US Army armoured vehicles gather to cross a river at a training field in Yeoncheon, South Korea, on Monday. Photo: AP

Trump posts a meme of Kim Jong-un on social media on Monday. Photo: Truth Social/realDonaldTrump

US soldiers walk beside military vehicles at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek on Monday. Photo: Yonhap/AFP

South Korea on edge over Trump’s call to cut military drills, goodwill for Kim

US soldiers seen near military vehicles at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek on Monday as a  joint military drill between South Korea and the US kicks off. Photo: AFP

US President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Sentosa Island in Singapore on June 12, 2018. Photo: AP

An F-35C Lightning II seen on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on August 5 during the ongoing conflict with Iran. Photo: US Navy/Reuters

South Korean protesters attend a rally to oppose the joint military exercise between South Korea and the US named Ulchi Freedom Shield in front of the US embassy in Seoul on Monday. Photo: AFP

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China

Diplomacy

Wang also says Beijing is committed to playing ‘constructive role’ in peace and stability of peninsula in talks with counterpart in Seoul


Wang also says Beijing is committed to playing ‘constructive role’ in peace and stability of peninsula in talks with counterpart in Seoul.


China’s top diplomat Wang Yi calls on US to change ‘hostile policy’ on North Korea

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Wang also says Beijing is committed to playing ‘constructive role’ in peace and stability of peninsula in talks with counterpart in Seoul

Wang also says Beijing is committed to playing ‘constructive role’ in peace and stability of peninsula in talks with counterpart in Seoul