11 May 2017

News Story: Seoul at key point to reset ties with Beijing

by Xinhua writer Liu Chang

BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Moon Jae-in, head of South Korea's Democratic Party, won Tuesday's presidential race by a large margin.

However, the new leader in Seoul may have little time to celebrate as he faces a series of major foreign policy messes left over by his impeached predecessor Park Geun-hye, most notably a highly charged situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Park's decision to introduce the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, a U.S. missile defense shield, has complicated situation on the Peninsula and across the wider north-east Asia.

The move has also dampened the once warm and friendly South Korea-China relations, and interrupted the long-time healthy development of business links between the two countries.

During Moon's campaign for president, he was critical of South Korea's caretaker government's rush to deploy THAAD, noting that the system has posed a massive financial burden on the country.

It seems that Moon also wants better ties with China. He told Washington Post in a recent interview that he prefers to work with Beijing to solve the nuclear issue on the peninsula.

Read the full story at Xinhua