South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung, who took office in June 2025, has prioritized resetting bilateral ties with China through multiple high-level engagements, including summits in November 2025 and January 2026 focused on trade expansion, cultural exchanges, and coordinated approaches to North Korea. Their most recent meeting occurred in late September 2026 in Beijing amid North Korean missile tests, where the leaders discussed restarting peninsula dialogue, signed cooperation agreements on technology and environment, and emphasized regional stability without referencing denuclearization. These developments reflect trader focus on Lee's pragmatic diplomacy, robust $273 billion annual trade volume, and scheduled events such as potential follow-up talks or multilateral forums that could prompt additional encounters.