1. Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin had a telephone conversation with Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs, for around 80 minutes on the afternoon of Thursday, August 31, and discussed issues of mutual interest including Korea-China relations, Korean Peninsula issues, and regional and global affairs.
2. The two sides reaffirmed their shared commitment to value and consistently develop Korea-China relations and agreed to make active efforts in various fields to develop the relationship into a healthier and more mature one as this year marks the new beginning of the upcoming 30 years of Korea-China relations.
3. To achieve this, the two sides agreed to actively promote high-level exchanges and communication. The two Foreign Ministers decided to hold close consultations for mutual visits between them for shuttle diplomacy and for an early holding of consultative mechanisms such as the Foreign and Defense Meeting, the Committee on People-to-People Exchanges, and the Track 1.5 Dialogue.
4. The two sides appreciated that the Korea-China Joint Economic Committee was convened on August 29 in Beijing, where an extensive discussion was held about the stable maintenance of supply chains and ways to reinforce economic cooperation. Especially, Foreign Minister Park suggested making joint efforts to stabilize the Korea-China supply chain including for rare earth and raw materials, and also requested Foreign Minister Wang’s special attention to maintaining a stable and favorable investment environment for Korean companies in China.
5. In addition, the two sides agreed that cultural and people-to-people exchanges serve as a basis for promoting mutual friendship. Foreign Minister Wang especially welcomed Korea’s participation in the Hangzhou Asian Games expected to be held from September 23 to October 8, and the two sides decided to make proactive efforts to promote people-to-people exchanges between the two countries by using such opportunities as China’s recent action to allow the resumption of group tours to Korea. Foreign Minister Park requested China’s cooperation on preserving and maintaining historic sites of the Korean independence movement in China and promoting exchanges involving Korean cultural contents including games, K-pop and dramas. In response, Foreign Minister Wang stated that he wished to closely communicate for the promotion of bilateral cultural contents exchanges and that the historic sites of the Korean independence movement are expected to reopen when their interior renovation is completed.
6. Foreign Minister Park pointed out that North Korea, after having launched a long-range missile under the name of satellite the past week in violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, again launched short-range missiles the day before while calling it a tactical nuclear strike training against the Republic of Korea. Foreign Minister Park requested China’s constructive role in making North Korea stop provocations and return to the path of denuclearization in line with the ROK’s Audacious Initiative. Furthermore, Foreign Minister Park mentioned that all UN member states should faithfully carry out the related UN Security Council resolutions and international norms in the course of people-to-people and material exchanges with North Korea, and looked forward to cooperation to this end.
7. The two sides broadly exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest. Especially, the two sides agreed to closely cooperate for an early resumption of the dialogue mechanism among the governments of Korea, Japan and China. In addition, as Korea will start serving as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council next year, the two sides decided to closely communicate on Korean Peninsula and global issues in the Security Council.