For the Yoon Suk-yeol government, it has been really an "eventful autumn" recently, especially after showing a tough attitude towards China last year, it has bet on the United States and Japan and other Western countries, hoping that they can support South Korea economically, diplomatically, and security, but some time ago the G7 countries did not invite South Korea to the Italian summit, Japan is also very arrogant towards South Korea, and the United States is even more ambiguous on key issues, as well as the domestic "red light" economic situation, and Yoon Suk-yeol's crumbling ruling position, All of this contributed to the ROK Foreign Minister's visit to China. South Korea is already in a difficult situation both internally and externally, and it seems that only China can really help South Korea reverse the unfavorable situation, especially economically, and diplomatically. Therefore, whether to choose China and South Korea or the United States and South Korea, I am afraid that this time Yoon Suk-yeol will have to revise his "values diplomacy" strategy.
On May 13, Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs, held talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Doi-yeol in Beijing. The two sides will discuss China-ROK relations, the Korean Peninsula issue and the international situation, and coordinate the China-Japan-ROK summit, which is expected to be held in Seoul at the end of the month. Wang Yi pointed out that "China-ROK relations have been facing difficulties and challenges recently", "I hope that the ROK will work with China" and "work together to promote the healthy and stable development of China-ROK relations", while Cho said that "I hope this visit will be an important step forward in ROK-China relations".
It is worth mentioning that Cho Doi-yeol's visit to China this time is the first visit to China by a South Korean foreign minister in six and a half years, and it is also the first visit to China during his tenure, which shows how alienated the Yoon Suk-yeol government has been from China under the influence of the "pro-US and China-distancing" policy. Some South Korean scholars mentioned that when Cho Tai-yeol took office, he said that "the importance of ROK-China relations is no less important than the ROK-US alliance," and this overture to China is also an important practice of his diplomatic philosophy. However, after all, this is also the statement of his new official when he took office, as the saying goes, "the people will see the people over time", and it is more important to listen to his words and watch his deeds, and this visit to China has to be said to be a helpless move made by the Yoon Suk-yeol government due to "domestic and foreign difficulties".
First, it was because South Korea's diplomacy went wrong, and it was a bit "beyond its means" that it came to the mind that improving relations with China was the biggest capital and bargaining chip in South Korea's diplomacy. Previously, the Yoon Suk-yeol government, which has been courting the G7 countries, did not expect that South Korea was not invited to the G7 summit at the end of April, but Italy, which holds the rotating presidency, invited Tunisia, Algeria, and South Africa, which put Yoon Suk-yeol in an embarrassing situation. It can be said that Yoon Suk-yeol is "stealing chickens and rice", he offended China before, and Sino-South Korean relations have fallen into a trough, and now he wants to show goodwill to China, and he must be a little unable to pull down his face.
Second, the Yoon Suk-yeol government's internal worries are prominent, and the ruling party's foundation is unstable. When Yoon Suk-yeol first took office two years ago, he held high the banner of reform, not only moving the presidential office to Yongsan, but also taking care of the interests of enterprises in the economic field, reforming labor, pensions, and education in the field of social security, and expanding the recruitment of medical students.
In terms of education, the Yoon Suk-yeol government previously planned to lower the age of entry to primary school to 5 years old, but it was strongly opposed by students' parents, experts and scholars. On the labor front, the Yoon Suk-yeol government's plan to increase the working week to 69 hours, supplemented by a centralized vacation model, has been met with widespread resistance and protests. In terms of expanding the enrollment of medical students and enriching the vitality of doctors, at the beginning of this year, there was a strong boycott and strike strike by doctors and professors, and Yoon Suk-yeol did not want to bow his head, but the pressure was too great, and he had to postpone the medical reform. In particular, the ruling People's Power Party suffered another crushing defeat in the 22nd National Assembly election in April, indicating that the "small and large" pattern formed during the presidential election two years ago will continue, and the Yoon Suk-yeol government has to face a "lame duck" situation in power.
Third, South Korea's economy cannot stand it. Since Yoon Suk-yeol took office for two years, South Korea's economy has gradually "turned on the red light", not only foreign trade is cold, and the price increase closely related to the lives of domestic people is even more outrageous, in addition to the basic expenses such as water, electricity, oil and gas have risen significantly, the price of agricultural products is rising like a rocket, including the price of fruits and vegetables is also rising, and South Korean consumers who eat out said that just an ordinary lunch will cost about 80 yuan. After experiencing a shortage of urea in trucks and the United States restricting semiconductor exports to China, the high prices, high interest rates and high exchange rates of the South Korean economy have made the people miserable.
In fact, it is quite reasonable to say that the importance of China-South Korea relations mentioned by Zhao Duilie is no less important than that of the US-South Korea alliance. On the one hand, from the perspective of geopolitical relations, just as Wang Yi said, "China and South Korea are close neighbors and should come and go frequently", China is an important neighbor of South Korea across the sea and separated by a strip of water, while the United States is only a country thousands of miles away from South Korea, and the way the United States influences and controls South Korea is only the US military stationed in South Korea, and no matter what the United States does to South Korea or what it asks South Korea to do, it needs to take into account China's interests and attitudes.
On the other hand, in terms of economic relations, South Korea, as an export-oriented economy, has suffered from the spillover impact of crises such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Russia-Ukraine conflict at a time when the international situation is turbulent, and South Korea's own industrial and supply chains, as well as export and foreign trade, have been negatively affected. Some people say that China and Japan are "politically cold and economic hot", and South Korea must also hope to catch China's express train in economic development, you know, the total trade volume between China and South Korea in 2023 is close to 270 billion US dollars, and China is still South Korea's largest trading partner.
As far as South Korea is concerned, this foreign ministers' meeting can be said to be a preparation for the recovery of the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea, especially when the Yoon Suk-yeol administration is facing severe challenges in the economic, diplomatic, and regional fields, it is all the more necessary to "ask questions about the road" to find out China's tone and attitude toward South Korea, and then evaluate whether the so-called "values diplomacy" should be revised to improve relations with China and lay the foundation for the resolution of domestic problems.