Lee-Xi summit to focus on thawing ties, N. Korea issue

The upcoming summit between President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday will serve as a key test of how Seoul and Beijing navigate a decade of mistrust and a rapidly changing regional order, diplomatic observers said. Xi’s three-day visit to South Korea — his first since 2014 — comes amid lingering tensions over the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system here, Beijing’s unofficial ban on Korean cultural exports and North Korea’s deepening nuclear threat. Observers expect their talks, to be held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders’ Meeting, to focus on normalizing bilateral ties, reviving economic and cultural exchanges and reaffirming dialogue on regional security. Relations between the two neighbors have swung sharply since their so-called “strategic cooperative partnership,” which peaked in the early 2010s. Seoul’s 2016 decision to deploy the THAAD system — aimed at intercepting North Korean missiles — triggered fury from Beijing, which viewed the system’s radar as