President Moon Jae-in (second from left) holds talks with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping where they discussed issues of mutual interest, in Berlin on July 6.

By Sohn JiAe 

Photos = Cheong Wa Dae

President Moon Jae-in, on an official state visit to Germany, met with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping in Berlin on July 6. They discussed ways to further enhance cooperation and issues of mutual interest. 

The two leaders agreed that closer bonds and trust between their two nations would help to improve their strategic cooperative relationship. 

“Seoul and Beijing maintain a very crucial relationship to denuclearize North Korea and to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula, as well as across all aspects of the economy,” said President Moon. “As this year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, our two nations will hopefully continue to develop our strategic cooperative partnership,” he stressed. 

Acknowledging that bilateral exchanges across business, the arts and human resources have recently shrunk due to certain sensitive issues, President Moon asked the Chinese leader for more interest and support for revitalizing such mutual exchanges and cooperation on many areas. 

President Xi expressed the sense of closeness that pervades the Korea-China relationship by mentioning a quote from President Moon`s autobiography. The autobiography is titled “Destiny" (운명), and Moon quoted the ancient Chinese saying that, “The waves to the back of the Yangtze River drive the waves ahead," (Janggang hurang chu jeonrang, 장강후랑추전랑, 長江後浪推前浪.) President Xi noted that, “President Moon is quite familiar to the Chinese people.” 

“We continue to have candid talks, which will increase our mutual understanding. We hopefully will make efforts to develop the Korea-China relationship and to defend regional peace,” said President Xi.

“I hope that exchanges and cooperation between our two countries will be normalized and expanded,” he added. 

President Moon Jae-in (left) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping prior to their summit in Berlin on July 6.

The two sides also agreed on the need to take a peaceful approach -- dialogue -- to resolving North Korean nuclear weapons problems, alongside sanctions and pressure on the regime. 

President Moon called on the Chinese government to “play an active role in the matter as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council,” while President Xi said, “I hope that the two Koreas will lay a foundation for reunification in an independent and peaceful manner by means of reconciliation and cooperation, and also based on trust and patience.” 

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