South Korean official pledges to strengthen Seoul-Beijing ties

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South Korean official pledges
Yoon Seok-youl (right) the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party, shakes hands with Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming (left) at his party's headquarters in Seoul on Friday

Seoul, 20 November 2021 (TDI): Yoon Seok Youl, the Presidential candidate for the upcoming presidential elections in South Korea, met with the Chinese Ambassador to South Korea, Xing Haiming. Both the Presidential candidate and the Ambassador met at the party’s headquarter on Friday.

Yoon’s Meeting with the Ambassadors

At the meeting, Yoon pledged that if he gets elected to office he is going to strengthen the ties between the two countries. Yoon underlined that South Korea and China are important trade partners. Yoon also reminded the Ambassador that the year 2022 marks the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between South Korea and China.

Ambassador’s Response

Ambassador Xing Haiming told Yoon that Chinese people have friendly feelings towards the South Korean people. Furthermore, he added that South Korea is an important neighbor for China. Xing reminded Yoon that China is always interested in what is happening in South Korea.

Shortage of Urea Solution

Both Yoon and Xing talked about the shortage of urea solution problem. As urea solution shortage is a huge problem for South Korea. Xing underlined that China had no idea about the urea solution problem. However, he is confident that both countries will be able to overcome this obstacle.

Recently, China banned the export of some fertilizers especially urea. This ban was implemented due to China’s power crisis which was due to the coal shortage. Urea is a key ingredient in the fluid used in diesel vehicles as well as factories to cut their emissions and is made of coal. South Korea imports almost all of its urea from abroad. The ban implemented by China was a huge problem for South Korea as it imports 97 percent of its urea from China.