BEIJING– China said it is ready to strengthen cooperation with the incoming South Korean administration for progress in efforts to resolve the Korean Peninsula issue.
Beijing’s foreign ministry expressed the commitment in a note on the results of talks between the two countries’ top nuclear envoys in Seoul on Tuesday.
Liu Xiaoming, special representative for peninsula affairs, visited Seoul for a meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Noh Kyu-duk.
“China is prepared to strengthen communication and coordination with the new ROK administration to jointly push forward the process of political settlement of the Peninsula issue,” it read. ROK is the acronym for South Korea’s official name, Republic of Korea. Yoon Suk-yeol is scheduled to be inaugurated as South Korea’s president Tuesday.
Liu was quoted as telling Noh that China does not want to see an escalation of tension on the peninsula and disapproves of actions by any party that could aggravate the situation. North Korea has carried out a series of major missile tests, mostly recently on Wednesday, when the Chinese envoy was in South Korea. The United States is seeking additional U.N. sanctions on the North, while China has apparently maintained a rather tepid stance.
Liu noted that Beijing and Seoul “share similar positions and broad common interests” on the peninsula issue and that China supports the two Koreas in improving their relations, as it highly commends the active efforts made by the Moon Jae-in administration and the outcomes it achieved, according to the statement posted on the ministry’s website.
Meanwhile, Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson of China’s foreign ministry, said Beijing is in talks with Seoul over the idea of sending a high-level Chinese representative to Yoon’s inauguration ceremony.
Source: Yonhap News Agency