Sino-SK ties on normal track

Ready to promote strategic cooperative partnership

China and South Korea have agreed to bring strained relations back to a “normal track,” the two countries’ foreign ministries announced Tuesday, a move that Chinese experts hailed as a sign of an ice-breaker.

“Enhancing communication and cooperation is consistent with the common interests of China and South Korea. Both sides agree to bring exchanges and cooperation in various fields back to the normal track as soon as possible,” read a statement issued by the Chinese foreign ministry.

“Both sides attach great importance to China-South Korea ties and stand ready to promote a strategic cooperative partnership,” said the statement.

The South Korean foreign ministry issued a similar statement on its website.

South Korea acknowledged China’s stance and concerns on the deployment of the THAAD (US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missile system, and made it clear that the deployment of THAAD will not target any third country, and will not harm China’s strategic security and interests, according to the Tuesday statement from the Chinese foreign ministry, adding that both sides agreed to keep communication through military channels.

The statement comes a day after South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told lawmakers that the country was not considering any additional THAAD deployments.

Kang said the country would not participate in the US-led missile defense networks. She also stressed that trilateral security cooperation between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo would not extend to a military alliance.

China hopes South Korea will fulfill its commitments and deal with the relevant problems to get SinoSouth Korean ties back on track, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Tourism hope

Mutual trust between China and South Korea was severely damaged after the THAAD deployment angered the Chinese public as it may threaten the country.

Since the deployment of THAAD accelerated in March, South Korea has lost many Chinese visitors, trade partners and pop culture fans.

A total of 9.84 million foreigners visited South Korea from January to September this year, down 23.5 percent from the same period of last year, the Xinhua News Agency reported, attributing it mainly to the drop in the number of Chinese visitors, which tumbled more than 60 percent during the period.

South Korea was no longer among the top 10 most visited overseas destinations for Chinese, even during peak seasons such as China’s National Day holidays, a staffer from online travel platform Lvmama.com told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Since March, package tours to South Korea, including air tickets, visas and hotels have not been offered on Lvmama.com and Ctrip, two major online travel platforms in China. Other platforms, such as Tuniu and Tongcheng, only offer limited visa services.

If bilateral ties return to normal, the tourism industry will rebound, as South Korea remains an ideal destination for its location and visa convenience for Chinese tourists, the Lvmama.com employee said.

Employees at China’s CYTS Tours Holding Company told the Global Times on Tuesday that the company’s travel services to South Korea are expected to resume as early as February.

However, experts noted that it will be hard for cultural and trade cooperation to get back to its peak, as the Chinese market has diversified to have multiple tourism choices just at the time South Korea made trouble for itself.

It may be virtually impossible to return fragile bilateral ties to “honeymoon” levels as the THAAD issue remains, said Lü Chao, a research fellow at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences.

Nevertheless, South Korean diplomats have shown sincerity at the risk of irking the US by stepping closer to China instead of the traditional triple alliance, Da Zhigang, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at the Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

If South Korea fools China on THAAD, it will lose its credibility not only with China but also with the international community, Da warned.