Beijing is extending an olive branch to Seoul by embracing the return of South Korean tourists as well as cultural imports like K-pop, as the two neighbours take steps to improve ties.
Some 200 Chinese fans turned up to see K-pop girl group IVE at a signing event in Shanghai on Thursday, the same day Seoul announced Chinese tour groups would get visa-free entry to South Korea in the third quarter of the year.
That came after China waived visas for South Korean visitors to the country in November.
Thursday’s K-pop event followed a visit by Twice, another South Korean girl band, to Shanghai last month to promote their new album.
That was their first event in China in more than nine years after one of their members, Taiwanese singer Chou Tzu-yu, angered mainland Chinese internet users when she waved a Taiwan flag on a television show in 2015.
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Meanwhile, South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s latest film Mickey 17 has been screening in Chinese cinemas since early March.
All of this is fuelling hopes that Beijing may further ease unofficial restrictions on hallyu – or Korean wave, referring to South Korean popular culture – as it tries to mend relations with Seoul at a time when both nations are facing new tariffs from Washington.
China unofficially banned South Korean entertainment products in 2016 after Seoul agreed to deploy a US missile defence system on its soil.
Choo Jae-woo, a professor of Chinese foreign policy with Kyung Hee University in Seoul, said Beijing’s visa exemptions for South Koreans and the return of K-pop to China would “very much” help to improve relations.
“Especially the visa waiver programme [introduced in November] – that’s already proving to be effective,” Choo said.
“We will have a week-long holiday in May and group tours are getting booked up fast. It is already claimed that China will overtake Japan as the most popular [South Korean] tourist destination come May.”
According to data from South Korea’s Ministry of Justice, the number of travellers heading to China from November to January surged by 60.6 per cent to 647,901 – compared to 403,470 in the same period a year earlier. Travel agencies in South Korea are reportedly scrambling to shift the focus of their packages from Japan to China, according to business news portal Chosun Biz.
Zhou Xiaolei, an associate professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said Beijing was the main driver of the latest cultural exchanges.
“China wants to improve ties with South Korea – an important neighbour and a US ally – before [US President Donald] Trump builds up pressure on China.”
Both sides appear to be hopeful for a rapprochement. When Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Woo Won-shik, speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly, in Harbin last month he said the two sides should “increase people-to-people and cultural exchanges to strengthen the friendship between the two peoples”.
On Friday, during a meeting in Tokyo, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his South Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yul also agreed to work together to restore cultural ties to improve mutual trust between the two nations.
Cho voiced expectations of a visit by Xi for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which will be hosted by South Korea later this year. He said the visit could be “a new turning point in bilateral relations”, according to the Korea Times.
The Chinese readout of the meeting did not mention any plans for Xi to visit South Korea but said Wang had called for mutual support for the Apec summits to be held in South Korea this year and in China next year.
Zhou said Beijing was expected to take a cautious approach to relations as political turmoil continued in Seoul.
Since President Yoon Suk-yeol’s failed attempt to impose martial law in South Korea in mid-December, the country of 51 million people has become deeply polarised. Anti-China sentiment has also grown after Yoon – who was impeached in December – accused Beijing of meddling in the country’s elections to justify his short-lived coup.
In an open letter in January, Yoon – who has sought to align Seoul with Washington in countering Beijing – urged South Koreans to stay vigilant against “hostile foreign forces”, which was seen as a veiled reference to China.
Yoon’s supporters have also staged anti-China protests in popular tourist spots such as Myeong-dong, a shopping area in Seoul, prompting the Chinese embassy to urge citizens to stay away from the protests.
However, in his meeting with Cho on Friday, Beijing’s top diplomat Wang stressed the “stability in China’s policy on South Korea regardless of the changes in South Korea’s domestic politics”.
The Constitutional Court has not yet announced the date for Yoon’s impeachment verdict. If Yoon is stripped of the presidency, an election must be held within 60 days to choose a new leader.
Observers say that if the opposition Democratic Party – which traditionally favours a balance between Beijing and Washington – takes power there could be more chance of a rapprochement between China and South Korea.
Zhou said the entire political spectrum in South Korea had shifted to the right, and there would be more emphasis on the alliance with the US.
“China is sending out a signal of goodwill now while it waits to see how the political landscape takes shape in South Korea,” she added.
“It is actually a smart move - by not overreacting, they are leaving the door open for better relations with whatever new government may come in.”
More from South China Morning Post:
- ‘Hope on the Stage’: China, South Korea move closer amid Trump tariffs
- China pushes Japan, South Korea for stronger trade ties to counter ‘chaos’ in world order
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