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S. Korea, China to boost strategic communication

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President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at The Stanley Hotel in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Saturday. The two met on the sidelines of the APEC summit there. / Yonhap
President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at The Stanley Hotel in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Saturday. The two met on the sidelines of the APEC summit there. / Yonhap

By Kim Bo-eun

China and South Korea pledged to step up cooperation to move the process of North Korea's denuclearization talks forward and other pending bilateral issues.

"South Korea and China hold the same strategic interests of peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia, so my hope is to boost cooperation in developing bilateral relations in the process of achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula," President Moon Jae-in said before the start of his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of last week's APEC meeting in Papua New Guinea.

Xi said keeping bilateral relations "in the right direction" and "strengthening strategic communication was aligned with the mutual interests of both nations." "We should continue to play a positive role in maintaining lasting peace and prosperity in the region," the Chinese leader added.

Moon shared with Xi the latest developments relating to inter-Korean relations and the progress in talks between North Korea and the United States on denuclearization.

At the summit Xi expressed support for Moon's efforts for peace on the Korean Peninsula and added China will continue to play a constructive role in this process.

The leaders also talked about an upcoming second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as Kim's visit to Seoul, which could serve as a watershed in the peace making process.

The second meeting between Kim and Trump is set to take place early next year. Cheong Wa Dae said it is hoping Kim will visit Seoul within the year, as he agreed with the President Moon at their third summit in September.

Meanwhile, Moon invited the Chinese leader to Seoul and Xi said he was willing to make a visit next year "at a convenient time."

The Chinese president also mentioned that he has been invited by the North Korean leader to visit Pyongyang. Xi said he is planning to visit North Korea next year.

The Moon-Xi meeting also discussed the specifics of possible joint work to search for the remains of Chinese soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War and the possible repatriation of the bodies.

In addition, the leaders agreed to conserve sites in China where Koreans held the independence movement from the 1910-1945 Japanese colonial rule.

The efforts would be made marking the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean provisional government in Shanghai.

The leaders agreed to further discussions so that the countries can negotiate a bilateral free trade agreement that would be mutually beneficial.

They said their governments would make joint efforts toward tackling environmental problems such as fine dust.

It was Moon and Xi's fourth meeting ― 11 months since the last one.

The first meeting took place on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany in July 2017. The second was held on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in Vietnam in November the same year, and the third took place when Moon made an official visit to China the following month.





Kim Bo-eun bkim@koreatimes.co.kr


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