Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha (left) shakes hands with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Nov. 22. (Yonhap News)
By Min Yea-Ji and Kim Young Shin
The foreign ministers of Korea and China held a meeting in Beijing on Nov. 22 to talk about major common interests, such as the further development of ties between the two countries and issues concerning the Korean Peninsula.
At their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, agreed to prepare for President Moon Jae-in’s official state visit to China in the middle of December, which will be an important opportunity for improving the relationship between Seoul and Beijing.
“The leaders of our two countries have agreed to put efforts into normalizing the relationship between our two countries across all fields,” said Kang. “I expect the difficulties faced by Korean companies to soon be resolved and bilateral exchanges to be vitalized prior to President Moon’s state visit to China.”
“Let us take action to revitalize interactions between our two nations across all areas,” said Wang.
The two ministers also reaffirmed their governments’ official stands on issues concerning the Korean Peninsula, that they must be resolved peacefully through communication. Moreover, they agreed to closely cooperate on security on the Korean Peninsula and ensure that the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games become a peaceful Olympics Games.
jesimin@korea.kr