1. Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam attended “the high-level seminar on the way forward for the Republic of Korea-China relations” co-hosted by the Chinese Embassy in the ROK and the Charhar Institute, a private academic institute of China, on May 31. In his congratulatory remarks, the Vice Minister shared with the other participants the ROK government’s efforts and initiative to enhance its relations with China, highlighting the need for a closer bilateral cooperation on issues concerning the Korean Peninsula.

* Major seminar participants from the ROK included Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam, lawmakers Lee Hae-chan and Kim Jin-pyo, Director Lee Hee-ok of the Sunkyun Institution of China Studies, professor Moon Heung-ho of Hanyang University, and Vice President for Research Planning Lee Sang-hyun of the Sejong Institute. Among the main attendees from China were Ambassador to the ROK Qiu Guohong, Han Fangming, Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee and Chairman of the Charhar Institute, Deputy Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Affairs Ning Fukui, professor Zhu Feng of Nanjing University, and professor Jin Chang-yi of Yanbian University.

2. Vice Minister Lim, calling President Moon Jae-in’s state visit to China in late 2017 a significant opportunity to put the ROK-China relations back on track, mentioned that the two countries should build trust in the areas of political affairs and security; step up substantive cooperation in a future-oriented manner based on similar policy directions and growth strategies; and bolster strategic communication on Korean Peninsula issues in a bid to develop their bilateral relations into a more mature and substantive strategic cooperative partnership.

° The Vice Minister attributed the lately ongoing positive changes in the situation on the Korean Peninsula to not only the shared aspiration of the ROK and North Korea for peace and prosperity on the Peninsula but also China’s strong support. He went on to stress that in the course of fulfilling the significant task of achieving a complete denuclearization and a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, the ROK and China need to communicate and cooperate with each other more closely.

3. The seminar was organized to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the upgrade of the bilateral relations to a strategic cooperative partnership, which fell on May 28, 2018. It is seen to have served as a good opportunity for the leading Korean and Chinese experts in the bilateral relations and Korean Peninsula affairs to hold candid and in-depth discussions mainly to explore possible policy measures for advancing the bilateral ties in a future-oriented way.

※ The ROK and China forged friendly, cooperative relations in 1992; cooperative partnership toward the 21^st century in 1998, comprehensive cooperative partnership in 2003; and strategic cooperative partnership in 2008.

* unofficial translation