China, South Korea to mend ties after THAAD tiff

Seoul/Beijing: Seoul and Beijing on Tuesday agreed to move beyond a year-long stand-off over the deployment of a US anti-missile system in South Korea, a dispute that has been devastating to South Korean businesses that rely on Chinese consumers.

The unexpected detente comes just days before US President Donald Trump begins a trip to Asia, where the North Korean nuclear crisis will take centre stage, and helped propel South Korean stocks to a record high.

The installation of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system had angered China, with South Korea’s tourism, cosmetics and entertainment industries bearing the brunt of a Chinese backlash. 

Beijing has never specifically linked that to the Thaad deployment. Beijing worries the Thaad system’s powerful radar can penetrate into Chinese territory. “Both sides shared the view that the strengt

hening of exchange and cooperation between Korea and China serves their common interests and agreed to expeditiously bring exchange and cooperation in all areas back on a normal development track,” South Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Before the Thaad dispute, bilateral relations flourished, despite Beijing’s historic alliance with North Korea and Seoul’s close ties with Washington, which includes hosting 28,500 US troops. China is South Korea’s biggest trading partner.