President Moon Jae-in attends a bilateral summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Crown Plaza Da Nang in Da Nang, Vietnam, on Nov. 11.

By Jeon Han and Yoon Sojung 

Photos = Cheong Wa Dae 

President Moon Jae-in held a summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Nov. 11. 

President Moon said, “I’m glad that we have agreed to normalize exchanges and cooperation in the near future in all areas between our two countries through negotiations between the foreign authorities in Seoul and Beijing.” 

The two heads of state officially expressed their will to normalize the bilateral relationship at the summit that took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit Meeting.

This is now the second meeting between the two leaders since their first gathering this past July. 

President Moon said, “We have a proverb in Korea that says, ‘After the rain comes fair weather.’ In China, there’s a similar idiom. ‘梅經寒苦,’ which says that apricot flowers that wait for the spring overcome the pain of a cold winter.”

“Although Korea-China ties did experience some hardships for some time, they also offered us a chance to realize the significance of our relationship,” said President Moon.

“I strongly hope that both countries can work hard together in order to make up for the lost time between the two of us,” he added. 

President Moon said, “I hope that President Xi Jinping can realize his new vision for a new era that was presented at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and during that process, I hope he can also help the Seoul-Beijing relationship truly develop into a strategic cooperation partnership in a substantial manner so that we can open a new era in Korea-China ties.” 

“I believe this summit can become a signal flare to re-operate the halted cooperation between our two countries across all areas, including politics, business, the arts and people-to-people exchanges, all of it getting into full swing,” he said. 

President Moon Jae-in (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a photo ahead of their summit at the Crown Plaza Da Nang in Da Nang, Vietnam, on Nov. 11.

Before President Moon spoke, at the beginning of the meeting, his Chinese counterpart said, “Both China and Korea share common interests at an extensive level in terms of the business and social development of our two countries, in the advancement of our bilateral relationship, and in the development of world peace.” 

“Now is the crucial time in the Beijing-Seoul relationship and concerning Korean Peninsula issues,” said the Chinese president. 

“I believe today’s meeting can offer an important opportunity for us in the development of the bilateral relationship, bilateral cooperation in regard to the Korean Peninsula issues, and in exercising leadership in the future,” said Chinese leader. 

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