After Yoon Suk-yeol won the South Korean election and became the president of South Korea, China-South Korea relations can be said to have ushered in a low period.
Relations between China and South Korea have not been particularly good, but after the Yoon Suk-yeol government came to power, relations have cooled even more.
Recently, however, South Korea has revealed that the South Korean foreign minister is going to visit China, and will this act bring about a turnaround in the relationship between China and South Korea?
What is the purpose of the ROK Foreign Minister's visit to China?
Looking back at the changes in China-South Korea relations along the way, we will find that there has been a marked change in South Korea's foreign policy.
China and South Korea only formally established diplomatic relations in 1992, but since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the relationship between China and South Korea has developed rapidly.
In the economic, cultural, scientific and technological fields, the exchanges and cooperation between China and South Korea are very active.
This is obviously inseparable from the efforts of successive South Korean governments, and in fact, the South Korean government before Yoon Suk-yeol came to power paid enough attention to China-South Korea relations.
It is precisely because of the common will of both sides that China and the ROK have an attitude of mutual respect for each other, and the results between China and the ROK in various fields are gratifying.
At that time, the South Korean government's foreign policy was also balanced, and it knew how to protect South Korea's interests as much as possible between China and the United States.
However, since the Yoon Suk-yeol government came to power, South Korea's policy has changed dramatically, and relations between China and South Korea have taken a sharp turn for the worse.
Because after Yoon Suk-yeol came to power, he chose to lean towards the United States and Japan in an all-round way, and his attitude towards China was very cold.
Yoon Suk-yeol firmly believes that "values" diplomacy can enable South Korea to successfully integrate into the value system of the West, so he does not hesitate to erase South Korea's original position as a "global button country".
Because the Yoon Suk-yeol government adheres to the political ideology of "long-distance friendship and close attack", South Korea began to curry favor with the United States and Japan and chose to confront China.
In addition, China and the United States are in a period of struggle, trade wars, science and technology wars, cultural wars, etc., although they are not hot wars, but the war is also very fierce.
South Korea chose the United States between China and the United States, which made the Yoon Suk-yeol government target China in order to be able to enter the social circle of Europe and the United States.
Such a one-sided foreign policy has also had an extremely serious negative impact on Sino-South Korean relations, as can be seen from the fact that the South Korean foreign minister has only had one telephone exchange with China since January.
The short-sighted behavior of the Yoon Suk-yeol government has not achieved the desired results.
In June, the G7 was preparing to hold a summit in Italy, but to the shock of South Korea, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, which has been ingratiating itself with the United States, was not invited.
At this point, many South Koreans began to protest against the failure of the Yoon Suk-yeol government's foreign policy.
After all, in order to be able to successfully break into Western countries, the Yoon Suk-yeol government has made many efforts, even against China.
But until now, the naked reality has finally been revealed, and South Korea has not actually been able to enter the social circle of Western countries.
The failure of foreign policy has made the Yoon Suk-yeol government face a considerable crisis.
Since the Yoon Suk-yeol administration came to power, South Korea has not only failed to overcome rising prices, but inflation has become higher and higher.
This has made the South Korean people's opinions about the government more and more loud, and the diplomatic failure has also made many people completely disappointed in the South Korean government.
This disappointment is reflected in the election of members of South Korea's 22nd National Assembly, and Yoon's National Power Party can be called a crushing defeat.
The Yoon Suk-yeol government has only been in power for two years, and it has failed to change the situation of "the small and the big", failed to improve people's livelihood, and failed to enter the social circle of Europe and the United States.
Such a result of the administration can be called a fiasco.
Does the news of the South Korean foreign minister's visit to China mean that South Korea has finally abandoned its erroneous policy of "values" diplomacy?
This alone is not really obvious.
The reason why South Korea revealed that the South Korean foreign minister had visited China was that in fact, in February, Wang Yi invited him in his only phone call with South Korea's new foreign minister, Cho Doi-yeol.
Later, the South Korean diplomatic department began to coordinate with China, because it was not said that they would meet in person, otherwise the time would easily conflict.
The news revealed by the ROK this time is very likely to represent a new development in the foreign minister's visit to China.
At the end of May, China, Japan and South Korea are likely to hold a summit in Seoul, and Chinese Premier Li Qiang will travel to South Korea to participate.
It is also possible that the meeting between the foreign ministers of China and South Korea is to prepare for the meeting of the leaders in advance.
After all, the last time the foreign ministers of China and South Korea had a face-to-face conversation was at the China-South Korea-Japan Foreign Ministers' Meeting in November last year.
Diplomacy between China and South Korea has come to a near standstill due to South Korea's misguided foreign policy.
In China's long-standing foreign policy, mutual respect is the basic attitude, the two sides should be equal, and China will not "curry" with any country.
If China-ROK relations want to truly return to the right track, it is not something that can be changed by meeting and talking a few times, but more importantly, South Korea should change its attitude towards China.
With the idea that China is regarded as an enemy, relations between China and South Korea cannot be truly improved.
In the upcoming meeting of the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea, South Korea is likely to negotiate with China as much as possible.
South Korea's relationship with Japan has lost the tension it once had under the concessions of the Yoon Suk-yeol government, so the relationship with China is the next priority.
The question now facing the Yoon Suk-yeol administration is whether to continue the policy of "long-distance friendship and close attack" and get infinitely close to the West, the United States and Japan, or whether to reconsider the current international orientation and change the diplomatic orientation.
The current international community is complex and changeable, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, etc., and the regional conflicts remain unchanged, and it is undoubtedly an unwise choice to continue the policy of exclusion of China.
South Korea once chose the United States between China and the United States, but the facts are already in front of them, and South Korea simply cannot get much benefit from this.
There is still room for easing relations between China and South Korea, but how to ease them and where they will ultimately go depends on the sincerity of the South Korean government.
China will not lose much from the bad Sino-South Korean relationship, but it is unclear how long the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, which is waiting for many problems to erupt, will last.
But the facts are in front of us, and the Yoon Suk-yeol government has also had to make changes, and for him, diplomatic balance has been a problem that has to be faced.
Material Source:
South Korea and China are coordinating the visit of the South Korean Foreign Minister to China|Yonhap News Agency
Ji Zhigang: Balanced diplomacy has become a "rigid need" for South Korea