SEOUL: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Chinese Premier Li Qiang agreed on Sunday ( May 26 ) to launch a diplomatic and security dialogue and resume talks on a free trade agreement, Yoon’s office said.
Yoon and Li met in Seoul a time before a mountain with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the second three-way deals by the three Asian neighbours in more than four years.
China and the US-allied South Korea and Japan are trying to control rising hostility amid the conflict between Beijing and Washington and conflicts over Taiwan.
Expectations are minimal for the multilateral mountain, but also handshakes may help maintain at least some high-level politics after years of deteriorating ties, diplomats and officials say.
The leaders had create progress in areas of sensible assistance like people-to-people exchanges and diplomatic issues, officials and diplomats said.
Yoon told Li that South Korea and China may work together not only to encourage shared interests based on mutual appreciation but also on regional and global problems to address frequent challenges, citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas turmoil and global financial uncertainties.
” Just as Korea and China have overcome several challenges together over the past 30 times and contributed to each other’s development and growth, I hope to continue to develop bilateral cooperation even in the face of today’s world complex problems,” Yoon said at the start of the gathering, according to his business.
Yoon asked China to enjoy a greater responsibility as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, especially as North Korea continues to develop nuclear missiles and boost military cooperation with Russia, saying another detective satellite launch using international ballistic-missile technology is inevitable.
Li told Yoon their countries should oppose turning economic and trade issues into political or security issues and should work to maintain stable supply chains, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.
Li said China is ready to strengthen cooperation in high-end manufacturing, new energy, artificial intelligence, biomedicine and other fields.
China will further expand market access, strengthen guarantees for foreign investment and welcomes South Korean companies including Samsung to expand investment and cooperation, he said.