Outcomes of the ROK-China Foreign Ministers' Talks

2007-01-12 17:02
Seoul--(뉴스와이어)--Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Song Min-soon held the ROK-China Foreign Ministers' Talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Li Zhaoxing, in Cebu, the Philippines, on January 11, and exchanged views on various issues of mutual concern such as the bilateral relations and the North Korean nuclear issue.

Minister Song and Minister Li noted that the ROK-China relations are steadily developing into "a comprehensive partnership of cooperation" (officially announced during President Roh Moo-hyun's visit to China in July 2003) and agreed to further strengthen the friendly and cooperative ties between the two countries by successfully organizing various events for the "Year of Exchanges" in 2007 to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

In response to Minister Song's strong request for China's cooperation for an early return of Choi Wook-il, who had been abducted to North Korea, Minister Li said he will make efforts to reduce relevant legal procedures as much as possible for an early settlement of this case.

The two ministers agreed to make joint efforts to prevent the history issue from hindering the development of bilateral relations, and pursue exchanges between history-related academic organizations of Korea and China and discuss cooperative measures for excavation, investigation and preservation of historical remains to this end.

In response to Minister Song's request for China's support for Korea's bids to host the 2012 World Expo in Yeosu and the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, Minister Li said he will positively consider rendering China's support for Korea's bids to host the World Expo and the Olympic Winter Games.

The two ministers also had in-depth discussions on ways to resume the next round of the Six-Party Talks at an early date and to achieve productive results once the talks are resumed, based on the outcomes of Minister Song's consultations with his U.S. counterparts on the North Korean nuclear issue during his recent visit to the United States.