Anchor: President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first summit talks in the southeastern city of Gyeongju, following the close of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation economic gathering. The two leaders discussed regional peace and stability as well as the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Rosyn Park reports.

Report: President Lee Jae Myung welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping for their summit at the Gyeongju National Museum on Saturday, marking their first official sit-down since Lee took office in June.

Lee relayed to Xi his expectations for stronger strategic communication with China as part of efforts to resume dialogue with North Korea.

He then stressed Beijing’s key role in dealing with Pyongyang, noting recent high-level exchanges between the two sides, apparently referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s attendance at China’s Victory Day military parade in September, among other events. 

Lee has been urging members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) bloc, including China and the United States, to support peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.

Ahead of Lee and Xi’s summit, however, Pyongyang called denuclearization an unrealizable “pipedream.”

Lee has also been seeking to strike a balance in maintaining good relations with China, a traditional trade partner of South Korea, amid China’s rising competition with the U.S., South Korea’s most important strategic ally.

The president also said bilateral economic exchanges between the two sides have developed greatly over the past 30 years, contributing to China’s emergence as the world’s second-largest economy and South Korea’s evolution into an advanced economy with global industrial competitiveness, and expressed hopes that their reciprocal relationship will strengthen further.

Lee said Xi’s visit, his first to South Korea in eleven years, was all the more meaningful because it was made on the occasion of the APEC summit in Gyeongju, adding that he looks forward to using APEC as a platform for cooperation that will further advance diplomatic and strategic partnerships between the two countries.

China is set to host next year’s APEC event in Shenzhen.

After their summit talks, Lee and Xi signed seven memorandums of understanding, including pacts to strengthen bilateral trade in services and cooperation to counter voice phishing and online scams.
Rosyn Park, KBS World Radio News.