The editor.

According to the Chinese Embassy in South Korea, on October 15th, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing saw off the new South Korean Ambassador to China Lu Zaixian at the embassy.

Lu was born on November 3, 1965, in South Korea, and is the son of former South Korean President Lutei Dum. In 1992, during Lutei Dum, China and South Korea established diplomatic relations.

Dai Bing sees off the new South Korean ambassador to China Noh Jae-heon at the embassy

According to several Korean media reports, Lu graduated from the business department of the University of Seoul, then went to the United States to deepen, obtain a Master of Political Science at Stanford University and a Doctor of Laws degree at Georgetown University, and hold a New York State lawyer's practice qualification, has served in several large American law firms, with rich legal practical experience.

The Global Times that Lu had a relatively short political experience, now as dean of the South Korean East Asian Cultural Center, frequently travelled to China and Korea to promote exchanges and cooperation in cultural fields such as music, art, academia and other.

Since the resignation of former ambassador Zheng in January this year, the position of the South Korean ambassador to China has been vacant for about 9 months.

Dai Bing congratulated Roh Jae-hsien on his appointment and expressed that Ambassador Roh has long been committed to promoting friendly cooperation between China and South Korea and playing a positive role in promoting people-to-people bonds between the two countries. Ambassador Roh's father and former South Korean President Roh Tae-woo was one of the important founders of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea and the development of bilateral relations. It is hoped that Ambassador Lu will inherit the will of his fathers and conform to the wishes of the two peoples to make new contributions to pushing the strategic partnership between China and South Korea to a higher level.

Lu said that I was appointed ambassador to China during the key period of the development of Korean-Chinese relations, and that I am deeply honored and aware of the great responsibility. I am willing to do my best to promote the development of ROK-China relations and enhance friendly cooperation between the two countries.We look forward to the two countries taking the meeting of the APEC in Changzhou as an opportunity to carry out important high-level exchanges and lead the development of bilateral relations.

On August 19, Ambassador Dai Bing went to Paju to pay homage to the cemetery of former South Korean President Roh Tae-woo, accompanied by Roh Jae-hun

Extended reading

"South Korean politicians must stay away from extreme anti-China rhetoric. We cannot lose China."

South Korea's temporary visa-free policy for Chinese group tourists has just come into effect, and some forces in South Korea have taken the opportunity to make waves.

The Hong Kong English media South China Morning Post on October 1 that the visa-free policy has sparked intense party controversy in South Korea. The ruling Communist Party supports this policy, believing it will help improve China-Korea relations and revitalize the tourism industry; but in the field, the conservative National Force Party criticized that this would endanger South Korea's national security and public health, and even lead to transnational crime and infectious diseases spread.

South Korean scholars warn that mainstream politicians must draw a clear line with extreme remarks, and South Korea cannot lose China from an economic or security perspective.

The report pointed out that the visa-free policy introduced by South Korea has triggered fierce conflicts between parties, and at the same time, it has made people worry that "weaponizing" anti-China sentiment for political interests may harm wider national interests.

Under the guise of national security and public threats, members of the National Power Party, a conservative opposition party in South Korea, attacked the visa-free policy. Immediately, members of the Common Democratic Party condemned such rhetoric as "inciting xenophobic panic".

Lee Dong-gyu, a researcher at the South Korean Penang Institute for Policy Research, believes that far-right politicians are using this tourism policy to incite hostility against Li in the Ming government, while Li in the Ming government is working to repair relations with China.

"Some conservative politicians are taking this opportunity to incite anti-China sentiment and use it to attack Lee Zai-ming's government." He said in an interview.

On September 29, the first day of the visa-free entry of Chinese tourists arrived at the international airport of Incheon.

Jeong Hoi-ok, a professor of political science at Myongji University in South Korea, said that extremism and xenophobic remarks were "normalized" among some conservatives, which was "quite disturbing".

She pointed out that this has occurred in just a few months since the incident of former President Yin Xi Jinping's "restricted order" in December last year.

Yoon Seok-yue's impeachment and imprisonment are widely believed to have exacerbated political polarization in South Korea.

The former president and his supporters once cited the so-called "Chinese interference in local elections in South Korea" as one of the reasons for promulgating martial law, but the electoral body explicitly refuted these allegations as groundless.

The South Korean government announced in early August that from September 29th this year to June 30th next year, the South Korean government will implement a temporary entry visa-free policy for Chinese group tourists. According to Yonhap News Agency, Chinese group tourists of more than three people can enter South Korea visa-free and stay for 15 days. Jeju is the same as before, and individual and group tourists can enter the country visa-free and stay for 30 days.

Obviously, this is a positive response to China's trial of unilateral visa exemption to South Korea.

South Korean officials expect the policy to attract about 1 million new tourists, injecting much-needed capital into South Korea's troubled tourism and retail industries.

According to the data of Korea Tourism Development Agency, 1.73 million foreign tourists visited South Korea in July, of which Chinese tourists accounted for the highest proportion, reaching 34.7%, totaling 602,147, a year-on-year increase of 31.2%.

However, National Power Party MP Kim Min-soo alarmist called the visa-free policy a "dangerous bet that risks public safety." He further played up anti-China rhetoric at this week's party meeting, warning that the policy could lead to infiltration by criminal groups and the "spread of infectious diseases."

He also claimed that international criminal groups may use the visa-free system to carry out drug trafficking and fraud activities, and accused Lee Zai-ming's government of neglecting public safety.

Other lawmakers joined his argument by calling for a delay in the implementation of the policy, and now that hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists are expected to flock to South Korea, public anxiety and fear will inevitably escalate.¡±

In response, the South Korean government stressed that it has excluded high-risk passengers from visa-free qualification, including those who are prohibited from entering the country or have illegal stay records.

For months, South Korean protesters have frequently held anti-China rallies holding the U.S. flag.

Members of the Common Democratic Party lashed out at members of the National Power Party, calling them "racists" and "far-right extremists". Ko Min-jung, a member of the Common Democratic Party, bombarded the other party as "delusional far-right elements" and described his remarks as "a typical case of far-right politics rooted in racism and xenophobia".

She warned: ¡°The exclusive remarks of the National Power Party politicians are dragging South Korea into a dungeon of hatred and a hotbed for the spread of far-right extremism.¡±

Co-Democratic lawmaker Lee Un-ju also expressed similar views, saying at a leadership meeting that opposition lawmakers ¡°stimulated public anxiety with ridiculous speeches and did too much,¡± which was ¡°unpleasant.¡±

She pointed out that the visa-free policy was actually approved during the conservative government led by Yin Xiyue (November last year), and was originally intended to be a "reciprocal response" to China's visa-free treatment for Korean citizens.

According to Lee Jun-han, a professor of political science and diplomacy at the National University of Incheon, conservatives are deliberately inciting anti-China sentiment in order to shift public attention to the consequences of the failure of the Yin Xi Jinping Rule.

¡°They are trying to gain support by inciting anti-China sentiment, which could continue until the next local elections in June 2026,¡± he said.

The Chinese Embassy in South Korea has urged citizens in South Korea to be vigilant.

On September 26, the Weixin Official Accounts of the China Embassy in South Korea released a message to remind China tourists coming to South Korea to strengthen their safety awareness.

It is mentioned that demonstrations and * against Chinese people have occurred from time to time in some parts of South Korea, especially in Myeongdong, Dalindong and other places in Seoul, which both China and South Korea explicitly oppose. It is hoped that Chinese tourists will keep a high degree of vigilance, enhance their awareness of self-protection, keep a distance from local political gatherings, refrain from making political remarks publicly, carefully go to places where people demonstrate *, and pay attention to traffic control caused by gatherings.

Chang Yong-seok, senior researcher at the Institute for Peace and Unification at the University of Seoul, stressed that mainstream politicians must clear the boundaries with extreme speech.

"We cannot lose China. From an economic and security perspective, China is too important to us."

Previously, the South Korean president and prime minister repeatedly spoke, intending to strike a heavy kick against the "anti-China" rally.

Li said that the anti-Chinese rally was a disruptive act that escaped the scope of free speech.

When presiding over the State Council on September 9, South Korean President Lee Jae-ming said that anti-China rallies were disruptive acts that were divorced from the scope of freedom of speech and instructed relevant departments to take effective response measures.

South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok also said on September 19th that if necessary, he would take strong measures to deal with individual anti-China gatherings in accordance with relevant laws. At the same time, he stressed that on the premise of ensuring public safety, it is necessary to avoid causing inconvenience and panic to merchants, residents and Chinese citizens in Korea.