As Donald Trump kicks off his second term in office Monday, Seoul is paying close attention to how U.S.-China strategic competition — a key variable in setting the coordinates for Korean diplomacy — will unfold.

Seoul and Beijing have resumed their negotiations to expand their existing FTA to include the service and investment sectors, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Thursday.

With the fate of suspended South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol hanging in the balance, the country has also been left facing an uncertain future as it battles through the resulting political turmoil.

Markets were cautiously optmistic after Trump took a lighter approach to China on Monday. That sentiment lasted a day.

The map below shows the location of Beijing and Seoul. The blue line represents the straight line joining these two place. The distance shown is the straight line or the air travel distance between Seoul and Beijing. Load Map What is the travel distance ...

The area in question lies within the Provisional Measures Zone, established in 2001 to manage disputes over overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZs) between the two countries. The agreement prohibits constructing facilities or exploiting resources other than fishing, pending a permanent boundary resolution.