China, South Korea leaders to discuss North Korea nukes

TIL Desk/World/Beijing/ South Korean President Moon Jae-In will meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing today amid mixed US signals about potential talks to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis.

Relations between Beijing and Seoul have encountered their own rough patch over the US military’s deployment of a powerful anti-missile defence system in the South to counter the North’s threats.

Moon hopes to “normalise” ties during the visit, his office has said, after Beijing imposed economic measures against South Korean companies, a move seen as retaliation to the installation of the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system.

China sees the deployment as a threat to its own security. Moving past the disagreement has become increasingly important amid growing concern that bellicose rhetoric between Washington and Pyongyang could spark war on the Korean peninsula.

“The highlights to watch of the visit would be whether the two sides (Seoul and Beijing) can start a dialogue and cooperation mechanism on the DPRK (North Korea) nuclear issue,” said Zhu Feng, international studies professor at Peking University.