China Urges South Korea to Remove Obstacles to Ties As Envoy Visits Beijing
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Thursday urged South Korea to remove obstacles to the development of bilateral ties when meeting with the visiting special envoy of the South Korea President.
South Korea should return bilateral ties to a path of healthy development, Wang told the special envoy, stressing China is willing to see a return to normal exchanges and cooperation between the two sides.
Lee Hae-chan, a member of the South Korea National Assembly and former Prime Minister, is visiting China from Thursday to tommorow as President Moon Jaein’s special envoy. Mr Wang expounded on China’s position on the deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defence system, urging the ROK to correctly deal with China’s major and reasonable concern.
Mr Lee said the South Korea acknowledged that the deployment of THAAD has harmed South Korea-China mutual trust and exchanges, and fully understands China’s reasonable concern over the issue.
The South Korea is sincerely ready to look for a solution to the issue, said Lee. Regarding the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, Mr Wang said China is willing to work with all sides on more effective measures, and that China insists on solving the issue through dialogue and is determined to safeguard peace and stability on the peninsula.
The South Korea-China relationship is significant for peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula as well as Northeast Asia, Lee said, stressing that the South Korea is willing to enhance pragmatic co-operation with China and push forward the bilateral strategic partnership of cooperation. China appreciates the new South Korea government’s acts to improve bilateral ties, Wang said, noting that President Moon had sent a government representative to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Co-operation held in Beijing earlier this week.
The bilateral relationship has seen great development and brought major benefits to the two nations since diplomatic ties were established in 1992, Mr Wang said, noting the setback in relations since last year is “unnecessary.”