South Korea's Lee took more ambiguous Taiwan stance in Xi talks: Expert

Seoul, Jan. 5 (CNA) South Korean President Lee Jae-myung's ambiguity on Taiwan during his first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) differed from predecessor Yoon Suk-yeol's more explicit public appeal to "international norms and rules," an expert told CNA on Monday.

Chun Kalim, a professor specializing in cross-strait relations at Hoseo University, noted that Lee said only that South Korea "respects" China's "one China" position, referring to Beijing's assertion that Taiwan is an "inalienable part" of its territory.

Yoon, by contrast, invoked protests from Beijing after stating that any conflict over Taiwan should be resolved in accordance with international norms and rules, and that South Korea resolutely opposes unilateral attempts to alter the status quo, Chun said.

Chun said that discussions between Xi and Lee, the first South Korean president to visit China since 2019, were focused on "resolving bilateral disputes," and, therefore, issues involving third parties were largely avoided.

In addition, Xi did not directly mention recent tensions between Beijing and Tokyo, triggered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's comments that a Chinese military attack on Taiwan could warrant a response from Tokyo, Chun said.

The Chinese leader, however, did call on Seoul to "firmly stand on the right side of history" and "make correct strategic choices," according to Chun.

Lee did not make a positive response to the suggestion, only briefly touched on Japan's colonial history, saying that both Korea and China stood together against Japanese militarist aggression, Chun said.

This showed that both took different stances on their approach toward Japan, according to the scholar.

According to South Korea's state-run Yonhap news agency, Lee and Xi agreed on the importance of resuming dialogue with North Korea as well as exploring measures for peace on the Korean Peninsula during a 90-minute one-on-one meeting.

Meanwhile, the Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency said that Xi and Lee both agreed to enhance bilateral strategic partnership, promote practical cooperation, and strengthen multilateral coordination.