Can Moon Jae-in get relations with Beijing back on track after THAAD?
Visiting president tells South Koreans he will work to restore trust with China
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he and his Chinese counterpart were expected to agree to start negotiations to expand their free trade agreement after he began a fence-mending trip to Beijing on Wednesday.
Speaking at a forum attended by business representatives from China and South Korea, Moon said he expected the free trade agreement would also cover the service and investment sectors.
“I expect [the agreement] will lead to an expansion of the countries’ advance into each other’s service markets and also promote cross-border investment,” he was quoted as saying by South Korean news agency Yonhap.
The current free trade agreement between the two nations signed in June 2015 only covers products.
Moon arrived in Beijing on Wednesday morning for a four-day visit to China, his first since taking office in May.
Reining in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions is expected to be high on the agenda. But Moon will also be aiming to get bilateral relations back on track after Beijing’s furious reaction to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system (THAAD). Seoul said it had installed the anti-missile shield with powerful radars to protect it from attacks from the North, but Beijing sees it as a threat to its security.