President Lee Jae Myung (right) and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Nov. 1 head toward their summit venue after a welcoming ceremony for the Chinese leader at Gyeongju National Museum in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province.

By Xu Aiying
Photos = Office of the President

President Lee Jae Myung and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, a state visitor making a trip to Korea for the first time in 11 years, on Nov. 1 held their first bilateral summit at Gyeongju National Museum in Gyoengju, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province.

The two leaders focused to set the direction for the development of bilateral relations in way to practically contribute to the livelihoods of the people of both countries based on the joint understanding that public livelihood is "of the utmost importance."

In his opening speech, President Lee said, "The relationship of mutually complementary cooperation of the two countries developed over the past 30 years has made significant contributions to China's rise as the world's No. 2 economy and Korea's transformation into an advanced country with global industrial competitiveness."

"The economic cooperation structure between Korea and China is shifting from a vertical division of labor to a structure of horizontal cooperation. Such a relationship must further develop in accordance with the changing times."

President Xi responded by saying, "Both countries are important and close neighbors who cannot move away from each other and are inseparable cooperative companions," adding, "Healthy and stable development always meets the fundamental interests of the people of both countries and is the correct decision that meets the trends of times."

President Lee Jae Myung (right) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) on Nov. 1 hold their bilateral summit at Gyeongju National Museum in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province.

The two leaders also expressed their shared intent to strengthen communication for regional peace and stability.

"We highly appreciate the latest situation in which conditions are being created for engagement with North Korea, including recent active high-level exchanges between China and the North," President Lee said. "Using these favorable conditions, we hope to strengthen strategic communication with China to resume dialogue with North Korea."

President Xi added, "China is willing to boost communication with (South) Korea and jointly respond to challenges for the stable and long-term development for our strategic cooperative partnership, thus imbuing more positive energy into regional peace and development."

On Nov. 2, President Lee said in a Facebook message on the summit, "This is highly meaningful in marking the full restoration of (South) Korea-China relations and allows us to jointly move forward again on a path of practicality and mutual benefit as strategic cooperative partners."

"Through a bilateral currency swap worth KRW 70 trillion, we will enhance the stability of financial markets and trade and speed up negotiations on the services and investment facets of a free trade agreement to solidify the institutional basis for economic cooperation."

In a briefing on the summit's results, National Security Office Director Wi Sung-lac said the talks "under the Lee administration achieved the result of comprehensive restoration of bilateral ties with China through diplomacy based on national interests and pragmatism."

"We decided to push ahead with mutually beneficial cooperation based on 'horizontal' collaboration that reflects changes in the structure of bilateral economic cooperation," he added. "We agreed to have the development of bilateral relations make practical contributions to issues surrounding the people's livelihood and peace."

xuaiy@korea.kr