With President Moon Jae-in and Chinese President Xi Jinping slated for a summit next month, expectations are growing that the neighboring states, at odds for months over a US missile defense system called THAAD, may finally find a way to untangle the knotty conflict.

Two governments are working to resolve their diplomatic dispute over the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Defense Area anti-missile system on the Korean Peninsula, before the leaders meet, Seoul officials said Sunday. 

“We are making various efforts to settle the THAAD problem smoothly before the two leaders meet during the APEC conference. Active working-level coordination is under way,” an official at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae official said.

Presidents Moon is to hold bilateral talks with the Chinese leader on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit to be held in Da Nang, Vietnam, on Nov. 10-11.

Signs of eased tensions between the two neighbors have emerged recently, including the renewal of a bilateral currency swap arrangement, the resumption of defense ministers‘ talks and China’s lifting of restrictions on tour packages to South Korea.

“The resolution of the THAAD dispute can be said to be a necessary and sufficient condition for a Korea-China summit,” another presidential official said. 

“In consideration of the time needed to prepare for the summit, the ongoing coordination between the two countries may yield some results this week. There may be an announcement about that,” he added.

Observers think South Korea may express its understanding of China‘s concerns about the missile defense system while reaffirming the inevitability of the deployment to fend off North Korea’s threats.

Upping the mood for a thaw in ties was an encounter between Seoul’s recently appointed ambassador to China, Noh Young-min, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at a bazaar hosted by the Chinese ministry in Beijing on Sunday.

The event saw the participation of foreign missions from over 100 countries, but Yi came especially to the Korea booth to convey greetings to Noh.

According to media reports, the Chinese official spent a “considerable amount of time” speaking with Noh.

He was quoted as saying he expects relations between the two countries to improve.

The Bank of Korea recently said China’s economic retaliations against Korean companies and products are estimated to be dragging down the country’s gross domestic product growth by 0.4 percentage points.

Amid the chilly ties, Chinese tourists to Korea have dropped 60 percent on-year during the January-September period, the bank added.

From news reports (khnews@heraldcorp.com)