SEOUL, Dec 5 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea and China agreed to beef up diplomatic and cultural exchanges, to “completely normalise” ties that soured, over the deployment of US anti-missile systems in 2017, Seoul officials said, on Wednesday.
Making his first visit to South Korea in over four years, China’s State Councillor, Wang Yi, who also serves as foreign minister, met South Korean Foreign Minister, Kang Kyung-wha, and was set to meet President Moon Jae-in on Thursday (today).
Relations between the two countries were strained by a dispute that erupted over the installation of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system in South Korea, which led to a sharp slump in South Korea’s tourism, cosmetics and entertainment industries.
Kang and Wang agreed to hold the first gathering of a planned joint vice-ministerial panel on people-to-people exchanges “in the near future” and create a new meeting on maritime affairs, South Korea’s foreign ministry said, in a statement.
“Both sides concurred that relations should be put back on a normal orbit and completely normalised,” a ministry official told reporters after the meeting.
Kang and Wang also discussed Moon’s expected trip to China later this month, for a trilateral summit with Japan; a possible visit to Seoul by Chinese President, Xi Jinping, as well as, stalled denuclearisation talks between North Korea and the United States, the ministry said.– NNN-YONHAP