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| Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) meets with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on the sidelines of the 31st APEC Summit in Lima, Peru, November 15. (Source: THX) |
According to Yonhap news agency, this is the first time in two years that the leaders of the two Northeast Asian countries have met face to face.
During the meeting, President Yoon Suk Yeol affirmed to Chinese President Xi Jinping that the two countries should cooperate for peace in the face of military cooperation between North Korea and Russia as well as the conflict in Ukraine.
He noted that South Korea regards China as an important partner and hopes to promote the continuous development of the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, based on mutual respect and the original intention of establishing diplomatic relations, to better address common challenges and contribute to regional peace and stability.
Emphasizing China's role as an important engine for global economic growth and a major contributor to addressing challenges facing the world, the South Korean leader called on the two countries to continue strengthening cooperation in the economic field.
According to President Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea's policy of respecting the one-China principle remains unchanged and hopes to participate in the modernization process of the neighboring country.
For his part, President Xi Jinping called on the two countries to “promote the healthy and stable development of the strategic cooperative partnership” to bring better benefits to the two peoples and make greater contributions to regional peace, stability, development and prosperity.
Noting that the international and regional situation has undergone many changes in the past two years, but China-ROK relations have maintained their common development momentum, the Chinese president called on Beijing and Seoul to stick to their original intention of establishing diplomatic relations, persist in the direction of good neighborliness and friendship, and commit to the goal of mutually beneficial cooperation regardless of how the situation changes.
Beijing and Seoul are major trading partners, although China is North Korea's main diplomatic and economic backer and South Korea is a military ally of the United States.
China has previously called for a “political solution” to resolve tensions on the Korean peninsula and reiterated that stance after Pyongyang declared South Korea a “hostile” country earlier this year.
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