1. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choi Jong Kun, together with Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China Le Yucheng, held the Korea-China vice foreign ministerial strategic dialogue in a virtual format on Thursday, December 23. In the strategic dialogue, they had in-depth discussions on issues of mutual interest, including the Korea-China relations, the Korean Peninsula, and regional and global affairs.

2. The two vice foreign ministers noted that the bilateral relations have developed in various fields including high-level exchanges, economic cooperation, and cooperation on COVID-19 response, and agreed to develop the Korea-China strategic cooperative partnership into a more mature and future-oriented one, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Korea-China diplomatic relations next year.

3. The two sides shared the view that summits and high-level exchanges are crucial in promoting the bilateral relations, and agreed to continue strategic communication through various methods, including face-to-face and non-face-to-face ones, even amid the difficulties of the COVID-19 situation.

4. In order to develop stable relationship, Vice Minister Choi emphasized the need to promote mutual understanding and friendly sentiment between the two peoples by continuously expanding substantive cooperation and exchanges between the two countries in various areas. Vice Minister Le expressed active support on that point and hoped the two sides would continue to make efforts together. 

° To that end, the two sides agreed to promote a performance-oriented substantive cooperation in a range of areas, including economy, culture and environment, such as cultural exchanges, supply for raw materials and climate change, so that the peoples of the two countries could feel improvements.

5. Meanwhile, Vice Minister Le shared the progress in the preparation for the Beijing Winter Olympics, and explained that China is making efforts to successfully host the Olympics. Vice Minister Choi noted the importance of the back-to-back Olympics in Northeast Asia, starting from PyeongChang in 2018 to Tokyo in 2021, and to Beijing in 2022, and wished success in hosting the Beijing Olympics as a healthy, safe, and peaceful one.

6. The two sides agreed that stable management of the situation on the Korean Peninsula is important, and reaffirmed the shared goal of achieving complete denuclearization and establishing permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.

° The two sides exchanged views on ways of cooperation to advance the peace process on the Korean Peninsula, including end-of-war declaration, and agreed to continue communication to resume dialogue with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

7. The two sides shared their assessments of internal and external situations, and exchanged in-depth views on various issues of mutual interest regarding regional and global affairs, including response to climate and public health crises and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

8. The strategic dialogue served as an important opportunity to strengthen strategic communication between the two countries on the direction of future development of Korea-China relations based on achievements of the past, as they mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties next year.