President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, shake hands during a Korea-China memorandum of understanding signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Jan. 5. (Yonhap)

When President Lee Jae Myung said that he understood Chinese President Xi Jinping’s remark about “standing on the right side of history” as “the words of Confucius,” he was making a carefully calibrated diplomatic statement rather than a philosophical observation. His comment reveals how South Korea seeks to manage sensitive relations with China without compromising its own........

© The Korea Times