South Korean President Lee Jae Myung raised multiple security concerns with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their summit, including structures in disputed waters and military air activity. Separately, South Korea’s defence minister also confronted his Chinese counterpart over the issue.
At the Gyeongju summit, Lee brought up the issue of structures China has placed in disputed waters, which Beijing claims are for fishing purposes. The move is a point of sovereignty friction between the two nations.
On the sidelines of an ASEAN defence summit in Malaysia, South Korea’s defence minister met with his Chinese counterpart and raised the issue of Chinese military activity in Korea’s Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ).
These security discussions happened as Lee was also seeking Xi’s help in restarting dialogue with nuclear-armed North Korea. Lee is pushing a “phased approach,” but North Korea immediately rejected the plan as a “pipe dream.”
Despite the security and military tensions, the two leaders signed seven economic agreements, including a currency swap. President Xi called for handling “differences through friendly consultation,” though Chinese state media reports on the summit did not mention any of the contentious security topics.
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