Seoul’s High-Stakes Beijing Visit: Can South Korea Calm China After Pyongyang’s Missile Show?

Touchdown in Beijing: A President, a Parade, and a Powder Keg

SEOUL—The blue-and-white 747 carrying President Yoon Suk-yeol cut through a hazy dusk on Monday, landing in Beijing just hours after Pyongyang’s newest short-range missiles splashed into the East Sea. It was the kind of timing no diplomat would script: a presidential summit overshadowed by artillery smoke.

A Red-Carpet Welcome—But Glances Eastward

Inside the Great Hall of the People, Chinese President Xi Jinping greeted Yoon with mask-less smiles and a handshake lasting twelve seconds—long enough for cameras to flash, not long enough to silence the questions ricocheting across Asia.

“We both agreed that maintaining peace on the peninsula is in our common interest,” Yoon told reporters, though he admitted “differences remain” on how to handle Pyongyang’s record-breaking year of weapons tests.

Tokyo’s Taiwan Talk Adds Fuel

Yet the Korean delegation arrived carrying more than North Korean angst. Japan’s recent pledge to help defend Taiwan in case of a Chinese attack has Beijing bristling; South Korea, caught between its security ally (Washington) and its biggest trading partner (China), now walks a diplomatic tightrope strung higher than ever.

What Seoul Wants—And What Beijing Will Bargain

• Supply-chain assurances: Korean chip giants Samsung and SK hynix fear further U.S. export curbs; Yoon seeks Beijing’s support for a technology “stability corridor.”
• Tourism rebound: Pre-COVID, 8 million Chinese tourists visited South Korea annually. Seoul wants visa-free travel restored by 2025.
• North Korea containment: Yoon pressed Xi to “more faithfully implement” UN sanctions; China reiterated calls for phased negotiations.

Missiles, Markets, and the Message to Washington

Behind closed doors, Xi reportedly warned that “external powers” — a clear nod to Washington and Tokyo — should not “inflame regional confrontation.” Yoon countered that trilateral Korea-U.S.-Japan drills were “defensive by nature.” Neither side budged, but both agreed to revive a long-dormant $30 billion currency-swap line, a move traders hailed as a backroom olive branch.

Street-Level Echoes

In Seoul’s Myeongdong shopping district, university student Kim Min-jung, 22, clutched bubble tea and wondered aloud: “We want Chinese tourists back, but we also want security. Can we have both?” Her question lingers longer than any diplomatic communique.

What Happens Next

Before departing Tuesday, Yoon will tour a Samsung battery plant in Xi’an, a symbolic stop highlighting Korea’s tech interdependence with China. Analysts say the real test comes in December, when Seoul and Beijing are expected to co-chair a new round of six-party denuclearization talks—Pyongyang willing. Until then, the missiles may pause, but the shadow play continues.