President Lee Jae-myung said after the South Korea-China summit that it was very meaningful in that South Korea and China have fully restored relations and are once again moving together on a path of practicality and mutual benefit as strategic cooperative partners.
On the 2nd, Lee posted on Facebook an article titled "South Korea and China move together beyond history toward the future." Lee also provided the post in Chinese.
On the previous day in Gyeongju, taking the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit as an opportunity, Lee held a first summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who made a state visit to South Korea for the first time in 11 years.
Regarding Xi's remark during the talks that the two countries are "important and close neighbors who cannot move away and inseparable cooperative partners," Lee noted, "As President Xi said, the two countries have built trust over a long period of exchanges, beyond differences in social systems and ideology."
He added, "Although we have faced difficulties large and small, I am confident that the deep friendship and history built together by the two countries have continued solidly without wavering."
Citing the fact that the two countries agreed during the talks to institutionalize high-level communication channels and expand people-to-people and regional exchanges, Lee explained, "We decided to further deepen and develop our friendly relations."
He went on to say, "Above all, based on the shared understanding that 'people's livelihoods are the most important,' we will draw up specific cooperation plans in various fields to produce tangible outcomes that the people of both countries can feel."
He also explained, "Through a 70 trillion won currency swap contract, we will enhance the stability of financial markets and trade, and by accelerating free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations on services and investment, we will firmly strengthen the institutional foundation for economic cooperation."
Finally, he added, "As President Xi has expressed an invitation, I look forward to visiting China in the near future so that the two countries can develop into even closer neighbors," and "I express my deep gratitude to President Xi for visiting South Korea as a state guest for the first time in 11 years."