Chinese State Media: "Yoon Faces Massive Opposition Party and Soaring Prices... Must Rectify Relations with China"

Ahead of the Korea-China-Japan summit, Chinese state media reported that the Yoon Suk-yeol administration needs to make efforts to rectify relations with China. It pointed out that with the major opposition party controlling the National Assembly and economic issues such as soaring inflation worsening, fostering a friendly relationship with China, the largest trading partner, is important.

China's state-run Global Times (GT) reported on the 26th that cooperation with China is crucial at a time when global uncertainties are escalating under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. Da Zegang, a researcher at the Northeast Asia Research Institute of the Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences, told GT regarding the current government's political environment, "After the April general election, the opposition party controls the National Assembly for the remainder of the term, and the government is facing worsening economic problems such as soaring inflation," adding, "They will rectify relations with their top trading partner."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Researcher Da explained, "The Korean government once adopted a strategy completely tilted towards the United States, but the benefits gained from that were limited," and added, "They are suffering losses due to tensions with China." He continued, "The trilateral summit should have been held earlier, but the 3-country mechanism stagnated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and tensions between Korea and Japan during the Moon Jae-in administration," emphasizing, "They have realized that it is time to bring trilateral relations back on track to ensure stable recovery and promote regional economic integration and future growth."

Lu Qiao, a Korean Peninsula researcher at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with the state-run Global Times, "The combined economic scale of the three countries accounts for about 25% of the global economy, and their trade volume is about 20% of global trade," adding, "(Strengthening cooperation) is important not only for the peoples of the three countries but also for the recovery of the global economy."

It was also clearly stated that this dialogue and cooperation hold significant meaning from China's perspective. Researcher Da said, "It is true that Japanese and Korean companies are moving to Southeast Asia, and that they are joining the U.S.-led bloc to check China in AI technology and the semiconductor sector," emphasizing, "It is important for China to strengthen communication with them to prevent the risk of damaging the entire trilateral mechanism."

GT forecasted, "Analysts expect that when China seeks cooperation with Japan and Korea, it will protect its own principles and core interests," and "Also, the three countries will maintain a pragmatic attitude in promoting cooperation in areas not directly related to territorial disputes or historical issues, such as trade and cultural exchanges, which are difficult areas."