S. Korea, China agree on Xi’s visit to Seoul, N. Korea talks
Minister says the ‘COVID-19 crisis could not defeat the citizens of our two countries,’ reiterates China’s opposition to a US missile defence system installed in S. Korea in 2017
South Korea and China agreed on Thursday to prepare for a visit to South Korea by Chinese President Xi Jinping and to cooperate on stalled talks on North Korea’s nuclear programme and on tackling the novel coronavirus.
China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, arrived in the South Korean capital late on Wednesday, ater a two-day visit to Japan, as Asian governments prepare for change under a new US administration.
“Both sides agreed to actively communicate so that the COVID-19 situation stabilises and conditions are created for President Xi’s visit,” the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement ater Wang held talks with South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.
China and US ally South Korea have traditionally been suspicious of each other but in recent years they have found common ground in economic cooperation and a shared concern about North Korea’s rush to develop nuclear weapons.
Xi was expected to visit South Korea early this year but the coronavirus epidemic put plans on hold.
Wang said his visit was to highlight the importance of efforts by the “strategic partners” to work to promote peace and stability.
“The COVID-19 crisis could not defeat the citizens of our two countries,” Wang, speaking through an interpreter, said as his meeting with Kang began.
“Bilateral ties are showing their strength and ever more vigour.”
South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in met Wang separately and they discussed peace on the peninsula, Moon’s office said.
US President Donald Trump raised hopes for progress in pressing North Korea to give up its weapons programmes in exchange for the liting of sanctions but talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stalled.
Kang raised the issue of the incoming US administration in her talks with Wang, who expressed “hopes” for its North Korea policy, a South Korean official who declined to be identified told reporters.
Wang reiterated China’s opposition to a US missile defence system installed in South Korea in 2017, the official said.
South Korea and the United States say the system is designed to counter North Korean missile threats but China fears it undercuts its security interests.
South Korea reported 583 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest since March.
“The easing was done because of economic concerns and growing fatigue but it was premature and sowed the seeds of people’s complacency,” said Kim Woo-joo, a professor of infectious diseases at Korea University Guro Hospital in Seoul.
“COVID-19 has arrived right beside you and your family,” Health Minister Park Neung-hoo told a televised meeting of health officials.
“In particular, the spread of infections among young generations is extraordinary.”
“Infections are emerging concurrently in our daily lives including family gatherings and informal get-togethers which makes it difficult for the government to take preemptive action,” Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae told a briefing.
South Korean markets held their nerve on Thursday as the central bank kept its policy rate steady and marginally raised its growth outlook for this year and next. Of the latest cases, 553 were locally transmited and almost 73% of those were in the greater Seoul area, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( KCDC) said.
Total infections in South Korea stand at 32,318, with 515 deaths.
South Korea’s first wave emerged in late February from meetings of a religious sect but the latest cases are more dispersed around the capital Seoul, making them harder to trace and contain.
The armed forces ordered a 10-day ban on leave ater a series of outbreaks at military facilities.
Other clusters have been traced to a sauna, a high school, an aerobic academy, churches, a children’s cafe and a friends’ get-together.
Infections among young people, many of whom show no symptoms, prompted the government to urge students to stop atending cram schools and private lessons ahead of college entrance exams slated for Dec.3.