South Korea¡¯s recent diplomatic thaw with China is not a pivot toward Beijing ¡ª it is a hedge against a more volatile world.
The warming of ties, set in motion at the November 2025 APEC summit in Gyeongju and culminating in President Lee Jae Myung¡¯s January visit to Beijing, marks a clear shift after years of strain under former President Yoon Suk Yeol. But Lee¡¯s push for what he calls ¡°horizontal and mutually beneficial economic cooperation¡± is better understood not as strategic realignment, but as disciplined risk management by a middle power under pressure.
Seoul is not choosing between Washington and Beijing. It is recalibrating sector by sector to reduce exposure where it is most vulnerable while preserving economic opportunity where it remains indispensable. The result is neither rupture nor continuity, but a circumscribed strategy that is quietly reshaping one of Asia¡¯s most consequential relationships.
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