(LEAD) Lee returns home from China trip focused on improving ties

▲ President Lee Jae Myung (R) shakes hands with Kang Hoon-sik (2nd from L), the presidential chief of staff, upon arrival at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, south of Seoul, on Jan. 7, 2026, from his trip to China. (Yonhap)

▲ President Lee Jae Myung (L), accompanied by his wife, Kim Hea Kyung, arrives at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, south of Seoul, on Jan. 7, 2026, following his trip to China. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) Lee-return

(LEAD) Lee returns home from China trip focused on improving ties

(ATTN: CHANGES photos)

By Kim Eun-jung

SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung returned home Wednesday from a four-day state visit to China, where he held summit talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping to enhance economic ties and coordination on peace efforts regarding North Korea.

Lee met Xi in Beijing on Monday for the second time in two months, amid tension over North Korea's recent ballistic missile tests and China's diplomatic dispute with Japan over Taiwan.

During the talks, Lee said he asked Xi to play a mediating role in handling issues on the Korean Peninsula, including on North Korea's nuclear program, and discussed ways to expand cultural exchanges between the two countries.

The two sides also addressed sensitive issues, including China's steel structures in overlapping waters of the Yellow Sea, which Seoul views as potential groundwork for territorial claims. Lee told reporters Wednesday that he expects Beijing to remove part of the structures, as he suggested during the talks.

On Tuesday, Lee held back-to-back talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and China's top legislator, Zhao Leji, to discuss ways to advance bilateral ties.

Accompanied by a 400-member business delegation, Lee attended a business forum in Beijing with top executives of major companies of South Korea and China to explore new areas of cooperation, including artificial intelligence and cultural content.

In Shanghai, he took part in a business event involving startup companies of the two countries, and visited a historical site that once served as the headquarters of the provisional government of the Republic of Korea during Japanese colonial rule in the early 20th century.

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