(Unofficial Translation)
I welcome State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi on his visit to Korea. You have come to Korea this year again after your visit last year. I am pleased that closely coordinated senior-level exchanges between our two countries have continued even amid the COVID-19 situation.
Your visit to Korea is all the more significant as it comes when both Korea and China have to usher in a future together for more mature bilateral relations in the lead-up to next year’s 30th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic ties. Please give my best regards to President Xi.
President Xi and I have engaged in close communication despite the COVID-19 situation and agreed to cooperate on epidemic prevention and control and promote people-to-people exchanges. Our two countries have set exemplary precedents of cooperation in response to COVID-19, including the establishment of fast-track entry procedures and the launch of the Northeast Asia Cooperation Initiative for Infectious Disease Control and Public Health.
Both President Xi and I are also committed to jointly opening up the future. We declared the Korea-China Cultural Exchange Year to pave the way for promoting mutual understanding and friendly sentiment between our two peoples. We also agreed to launch the Korea-China Relations Future Development Committee to prepare together for the development of bilateral relations over the next 30 years.
I hope that the important agreements reached between President Xi and myself will be implemented seamlessly and produce satisfactory results so that our strategic cooperative partnership can advance to an even higher level.
We note China’s role and contribution in pushing the Korean Peninsula peace process so far. My Administration will continue to work together with the international community, including China, for denuclearization and the establishment of peace on the Peninsula. I look forward to China’s unwavering support, and I hope that State Councilor Wang Yi will play a significant role in backing My Administration’s efforts to advance Korea-China relations and establish peace on a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons.
Thank you.