South Korean President Lee Jae Myung arrived in Beijing on January 4, 2026, for summit talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on January 5—hours after North Korea's first ballistic missile launch of the year heightened tensions. Building on the state visit previewed prior to departure, discussions will cover North Korea coordination, economic ties, and cultural exchanges.
Lee's arrival kicks off his first trip to China since taking office in June 2025 and the first by a South Korean president since 2019. It follows their second meeting in two months, after a sideline encounter at the November 2025 APEC summit in Gyeongju, Xi's first South Korea visit in 11 years.
The timing intensified amid North Korea firing unidentified ballistic missiles toward the East Sea just before Lee's plane landed—a violation of UN resolutions and the regime's first weapons test of 2026. Cheong Wa Dae's National Security Office condemned the launches as provocative, urging Pyongyang to cease. Lee seeks China's support for improving Seoul-Pyongyang ties and Korean Peninsula denuclearization.
Lee travels with top business leaders, including Samsung's Lee Jae-yong, SK's Chey Tae-won, and LG's Koo Kwang-mo, for a Korea-China economic forum targeting AI, green energy, supply chains, and tourism. Over 10 MOUs are anticipated. Cultural talks aim to lift unofficial curbs on Korean content since the 2017 THAAD deployment.
Among sensitivities: China's Yellow Sea steel structures viewed by Seoul as territorial moves, and Taiwan tensions post-Chinese drills—Lee reaffirmed the 'One China' policy in a CCTV interview. On January 6, he meets Premier Li Qiang and National People's Congress Standing Committee Chairman Zhao Leji, then heads to Shanghai for the Republic of Korea Provisional Government site and Kim Gu's 150th birth anniversary.
The visit highlights Lee's pragmatic diplomacy, balancing the U.S. alliance with China ties vital for trade, tourism, and peninsula stability.
