South Korean President Lee Jae Myung began a state visit to China on Sunday, hoping to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula hours after North Korea launched ballistic missiles.
The visit, Lee's first to China since taking office in June, comes during heightened global tensions after Pyongyang's display, on the heels of the U.S. attack on Venezuela.
Lee is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping during the trip for their second meeting in just two months, an unusually short interval that, analysts say, signals China's keen interest in boosting economic collaboration and tourism as its relations with neighbouring Japan have sunk to the lowest point in years.
Beijing was incensed when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in November that Tokyo could take military action if Beijing attacked Taiwan.
Sunday's missile launches by North Korea represent "a message to China to deter closer ties with South Korea and to counter China's stance on denuclearisation", said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul.
Lee arrived in Beijing with a delegation that includes more than 200 South Korean business leaders to start the four-day visit, Chinese state news broadcaster CCTV reported.
These included Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee, SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, according to photos published by South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.
China and South Korea are expected to discuss matters such as supply chain investment, the digital economy and cultural exchanges during Lee's visit, CCTV said.
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South Korea will soon cease to be one of the few countries where Google Maps does not function fully, after its security-conscious government reversed a two-decade-old policy and approved the export of high-precision map data to overseas servers.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Thursday (26 February) he will focus on expanding his country’s nuclear arsenal and that prospects for improving relations with the U.S. depend entirely on Washington’s approach, state media KCNA reported.
South Korea and the United States will conduct joint military drills, known as Freedom Shield, from 9 to 19 March, military officials from both countries announced on Wednesday.
A “Victory will be ours” banner was hung on the Russian Embassy in Seoul, ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It remains on display despite a request from the South Korean Foreign Ministry on Sunday (22 February) for its removal, sparking widespread criticism.
Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is a hardline cleric with strong backing from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. His rise signals continuity in Tehran's anti-Western policies.
Trump says the United States "don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won," targeting his criticism at UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Israel continues to fire missles at strategic sites in Iran and Gulf regions report more strikes from Iran.
Global oil prices surpassed $119 a barrel on Monday (9 March, 2026), an almost four year high, as the Middle East conflict rumbled on.
Iran named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader on Monday (9 March), signaling that hardliners remain firmly in charge, as the week-old U.S.-Israeli war with Iran pushed oil above $100 a barrel.
Entry and exit across the state border between Azerbaijan and Iran for all types of cargo vehicles, including those in transit, will resume on 9 March, according to a statement by the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan.
U.S. President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke by phone on Sunday as tensions between Washington and Westminster deepened over the conflict involving Iran. The call came less than a day after Trump criticised Britain’s response to U.S. strikes on Iranian targets.
Norwegian police are searching for a suspect after an explosion at the U.S. embassy in Oslo on 8 March caused minor damage but no injuries, in what authorities say may have been a deliberate attack linked to the Middle East crisis.
An explosion damaged a synagogue in the Belgian city of Liège early on Monday (9 March) in what authorities said was an antisemitic attack that caused damage but no injuries.
The Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers will meet on Monday to discuss a global rise in oil prices and a joint release of oil from emergency reserves coordinated by the International Energy Agency, the Financial Times reports.
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