UNJournal Lee Sung Jun | SEOUL / BEIJING — Korea-China relations are advancing on multiple fronts simultaneously — from high-level summit diplomacy between Presidents Lee Jae-myung and Xi Jinping to local government engagement between Incheon and Beijing — reflecting a broad-based effort by both sides to deepen one of Asia's most consequential bilateral relationships.

A State Visit and a Selfie That Said More Than Documents

The personal dimension of the relationship between the two leaders drew unusual public attention when President Lee shared photographs from his January state visit to Beijing on his social media account. The images, taken with a Xiaomi smartphone gifted by President Xi during the APEC Summit in Gyeongju last November, showed the two presidents alongside their respective spouses — First Lady Kim Hye-kyung and First Lady Peng Liyuan — at a state banquet at the Great Hall of the People.

"Thanks to this, I got the photo of a lifetime," President Lee wrote. "The closer we meet, the more the Korea-China relationship will improve."

The exchange had its lighter moments. When President Lee jokingly asked whether the Chinese-made device had adequate communication security, President Xi laughed and replied, "Why don't you check if there's a backdoor" — a remark that circulated widely and added a rare note of warmth to the public optics of the summit.

President Lee travelled to Beijing with a delegation of approximately 200 economic officials and business representatives, including Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo — underscoring the economic weight behind the diplomatic visit.

Fourteen MOUs and a Cultural Repatriation

The summit produced 14 memoranda of understanding spanning trade, industrial production, supply chain cooperation, venture business promotion, digital innovation, environmental protection, food safety, and intellectual property rights, as well as the establishment of regular ministerial meetings between Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources and China's Ministry of Commerce.

A distinctive cultural element also marked the occasion. A certificate of donation was signed committing a pair of Qing Dynasty stone lion statues — held at Seoul's Kansong Art Museum since their purchase at a Japanese auction in 1933 by the renowned Korean collector Jeon Hyeong-pil — to the Chinese National Cultural Heritage Administration. Jeon had reportedly expressed his wish that the statues be returned to their homeland someday, and the transfer fulfilled that intention nearly a century later.

President Lee also reaffirmed South Korea's commitment to the One China policy during the visit, providing a clear diplomatic signal alongside the economic and cultural engagements.

Incheon as a Gateway: Mayor Park Meets Ambassador Dai

At the local government level, Incheon Metropolitan City Mayor Park Chan-dae met with Chinese Ambassador to Korea Dai Bing on August 13 to explore ways to further strengthen bilateral exchanges and practical cooperation.

Mayor Park highlighted Incheon's historic significance in the Korea-China relationship — as the city facing the Shandong Peninsula across the Yellow Sea, the site where the Korean Chinese community first took root, and home to Korea's oldest Chinatown. He pledged to do his utmost during his term to expand future-oriented exchanges between Incheon and China, expressing his hope to meet frequently with the Ambassador to continue discussions.

Ambassador Dai congratulated Mayor Park on his inauguration and praised Incheon's consistent track record of local government cooperation with China, describing the city's efforts as a significant contribution to mutual understanding and people-to-people friendship. He expressed his expectation that Incheon would continue to serve as a pivotal hub for local government exchanges between the two countries.

Incheon City and the Chinese Embassy have co-hosted the "In China Forum" since 2019, which has grown into one of Korea's premier platforms for Korea-China knowledge exchange, networking, and business engagement.

Private Sector Engagement: A Message from the Korea-China Economic Cooperation Association

Woo Jong-soon, Chairman of the Korea-China Economic Cooperation Association — an organisation established in 2001 under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy — offered his perspective on the bilateral relationship's trajectory.

"Korea and China are close neighboring countries and inseparable friends who have shared thousands of years of history," Chairman Woo wrote. Since 2016, China has been Korea's largest trading partner in both exports and imports, while Korea has become China's top import country and third-largest export destination — figures that underscore the structural interdependence of the two economies.

Chairman Woo expressed confidence that the two countries would continue to solidify their partnership and pledged that the Association would work to diversify private sector networks across economics, culture, and academia. "Such exchanges will enhance friendship and understanding between the two nations, serving as a reliable safeguard to strengthen trust among the governments, private sectors, and businesses of both countries," he said.