1. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha had a meeting and a dinner with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on November 22, and engaged in in-depth and candid discussions for five hours on issues of mutual interest, including issues regarding President Moon Jae-in’s visit to China, the way forward for the ROK-China relations, and issues on the Korean Peninsula.

2. In the meeting, the two sides agreed to work to arrange President Moon Jae-in’s state visit to China in mid-December this year, and shared the view that President Moon’s visit to China will become an important opportunity to further strengthen the momentum for improvements in the bilateral relations. They also had in-depth discussions on concrete ways to make a success of the visit despite the short preparation period, and agreed to continue close communications between relevant authorities, including the Foreign Ministries.

3. The two Ministers agreed to faithfully implement what was discussed in the consultation on improvements in the ROK-China relations on October 31, and between the leaders of the two countries recently. They also agreed to continue to work together to develop the relations between the ROK and China, marking the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations, into a substantive strategic cooperative partnership.

o Minister Kang especially expressed hope that the two countries will make its utmost efforts to normalize the bilateral relations in a range of areas, as the leaders of the two countries agreed, and that ahead of President Moon’s visit to China, difficulties facing Korean companies in China will be resolved as early as possible, and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries will be facilitated, as they were in the past.

o Minister Wang talked about the announcement on October 31 and the position expressed by the Chinese leader recently, and offered to take active measures to facilitate exchanges between the two countries in various areas.

4. The two Ministers took note that the two countries have been continuing frequent and close communications in various forms, including bilateral meetings on the sidelines of multilateral meetings, and telephone conversations, and agreed to increase strategic dialogue on various issues between the diplomatic and security authorities of the two countries in order to manage the bilateral relations in a stable manner and advance the relations. As part of such efforts, they agreed to strengthen the system for frequent communications between the Foreign Ministers of the two countries.

5. The two Ministers shared their assessments of the current situation on the Korean Peninsula, and reaffirmed their position that the North Korean nuclear issue needs to be resolved peacefully through dialogue. They also agreed to closely work together to make the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and Paralympics to be held in February and March next year a “peace Olympics” by exerting efforts to manage the security situation on the Korean Peninsula in a stable manner, including continuing to deter North Korea’s provocations through all diplomatic means.

o Minister Wang reaffirmed the Chinese government’s commitment to implement Security Council resolutions, and to continue diplomatic efforts to create an environment for dialogue.

o Minister Kang took note of the Chinese side’s efforts, and offered to continue to work together to create conditions for a change of course, while deterring North Korea’s additional provocations.

6. Prior to the ROK-China Foreign Ministers’ meeting, Minister Kang had a luncheon with Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of China's National People's Congress Fu Ying, and exchanged views on a wide range of issues regarding the ROK-China relations. The two sides took note that exchanges between the parliaments of the two countries have helped the bilateral relations develop in a stable manner, and agreed on the need to continue to further facilitate such exchanges.


* unofficial translation