IP26021

Authors: Benjamin Ho, Hyunjung Yoo

Published: 06 February 2026

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung paid a state visit to China on 5 January 2026, at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and held the second Korea–China summit in Beijing. Coming just two months after their first meeting in Gyeongju in November 2025, the unusually short interval symbolised that bilateral relations – strained since the THAAD dispute – have entered a new phase in which leaders can meet whenever necessary. What, then, are the implications for both Seoul and Beijing?

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