Reduced risks, not breakthroughs main aim of South Korean President Lee's trip to China


President Lee Jae Myung and first lady Kim Hea Kyung wave before boarding Air Force One at Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Sunday, departing for a four-day state visit to China. - Photo: Yonhap

SEOUL: President Lee Jae Myung’s four-day state visit to China is less a deal-making summit than an exploration of how Seoul and Beijing can steady their relationship under the growing constraints of US-China strategic competition and an increasingly volatile regional security landscape.

The trip, which began Sunday (Jan 4), carries a twin imperative, observers say. One is to keep high-stakes flashpoints from hijacking the relationship — as the 2017 THAAD deployment did.

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