S. Korea, China to work on restoring cultural exchanges amid Beijing's content ban

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hold a meeting, Friday, ahead of trilateral foreign ministerial talks set to take place in Tokyo, Saturday. Yonhap South Korea and China agreed Friday to work together to restore cultural exchanges, raising expectations Beijing will lift its apparent restrictions on Korean entertainment and other content. The two countries reached the understanding during the bilateral talks between Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tokyo, Seoul's foreign ministry said in a release following the talks. Friday's talks came as the two Asian neighbors are seeking to manage and improve their bilateral ties as key economic and regional partners despite differences in the security realm. "The two ministers agreed to work together to ensure that the restoration of cultural exchanges between South Korea and China would enhance mutual understanding between their peoples, and serve as an opportunity to further develop practical cooperation between the two countries," the ministry said. Whether the issue of China's restrictions on Korean cultural content, such as K-pop and drama series, would be raised was a point of attention for Friday's talks. Beijing has never acknowledged the imposition officially, but South Korea believes that China placed the ban after Seoul's deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system in 2016. Expectations have grown recently over a possible easing of the measure, amid the two countries' efforts to improve bilateral relations. At the talks, Cho made it clear that South Korea's "legitimate and lawful" maritime rights should not be affected by China's activities in the Yellow Sea, the ministry said. Cho's remarks are seen as referring to last month's two-hour standoff between the two countries, when Chinese authorities blocked Seoul's attempt to investigate a steel structure China built in the overlapping waters in the Yellow Sea. Wang, in response, suggested continuing communication between the two sides "with the recognition that mutual respect for maritime rights is important," according to Seoul's ministry. On the possibility of a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to South Korea, the two top diplomats agreed to work together to make his trip, if realized, an opportunity for a "new turning point" in bilateral relations. Xi is likely to visit South Korea for the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, due to take place in the southeastern city of Gyeongju between late October and early November. "If President Xi visits, we hope to promote mutually beneficial and practical cooperation projects that will contribute to improving the livelihoods of people in both countries," Cho said in the opening remarks. They also agreed to closely cooperate to deepen economic cooperation, including expediting negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement in the service and investment sectors. Cho also asked for China to play a "constructive role" in addressing Korean Peninsula issues to encourage North Korea to halt its provocations and move toward denuclearization. The talks between Cho and Wang took place ahead of the planned trilateral meeting involving their Japanese counterpart, Takeshi Iwaya, set for Saturday. Cho arrived in Tokyo earlier in the day. He plans to meet Iwaya for separate bilateral talks following the three-way dialogue. Cho and Wang last held talks on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September last year. (Yonhap)