President Yoon Suk-yeol shakes hands with Chinese Prime Minister Li Chang (left) ahead of bilateral talks at his office in Seoul on May 26, 2024. Yoon also held a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Yoon discussed bilateral economic and trade cooperation between South Korea and China, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and cooperation among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan during a series of bilateral meetings with Chinese and Japanese leaders. /Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Hong Sun-mi

President Yoon held a series of bilateral meetings with Chinese Prime Minister Li Chang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday to discuss ways to cooperate in investment, trade, supply chain, and global cooperation. The three leaders will sit down for their first trilateral summit in four years and five months on Monday to discuss cooperation in the field of people’s livelihood and economy and exchange opinions on regional and international circumstances. They will announce a joint declaration adopted during their summit.

The South Korean president said in his meeting with the Chinese premier that the two countries have overcome numerous difficulties together over the past 30 years, contributing to one another’s development and growth. “I hope that we will continue to strengthen our bilateral cooperation in the face of global complexities,” Yoon said. “I believe the two countries should work closely not only for our bilateral relations but also for the peace and prosperity in the international community,” he said. Li, conveying to Yoon regards from the Chinese President Xi Jinping, reciprocated the South Korean president’s message of working together. “The Chinese side would like to work together with the Korean side to become good neighbors who can rely on each other and partners who help each other succeed,” he said. This is Li’s first South Korean trip after taking office in March last year.

At the Korea-Japan summit that followed, Yoon and his Japanese counterpart Kishida agreed to “upgrade the Korea-Japan relationship.” “Based on the solid trust between the two of us, exchanges at all levels have been greatly enhanced over the past year,” Yoon said. “I anticipate a surge in personnel exchanges this year, exceeding the 2018 record of 10.51 million.”

“I hope that the prime minister and I will work together to build on these achievements so that next year, when we mark the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties between South Korea and Japan, we can reach a historic milestone that can make upgrade our bilateral relations further,” he said. In response, Kishida said that as next year marks the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties with South Korea, he hopes the governments of the two countries could work under their leadership to enhance the bilateral relations even further. Kishida said that the international community was at a turning point in history, and that he hoped the two countries “can deepen our cooperation in maintaining and strengthening a free and open Indo-Pacific and in responding to global challenges in an effective way.”

ⓒ "젊은 파워, 모바일 넘버원 아시아투데이"