GYEONGJU, South Korea — South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Saturday he expects to resume inter-Korean dialogue following his first summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to Yonhap News Agency.
Lee welcomed Xi’s first visit to South Korea in 11 years for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, saying he hoped the talks would pave the way for “tangible results.”
He pointed to recent high-level exchanges between Beijing and Pyongyang as a positive development that could help reopen communication channels with North Korea.
Lee said Seoul and Beijing should “strengthen their strategic communication, make use of these conditions and work toward resuming dialogue with North Korea,” stressing that “it can never be overstated how important regional security is.”
Pyongyang has not responded to Seoul’s proposals for renewed dialogue since Lee took office in June.
On economic ties, Lee said cooperation between South Korea and China has evolved from a “vertical structure” to a “horizontal one,” calling for a more “mutually beneficial” partnership.
The two sides signed memorandums of understanding on services and trade, a currency swap, and joint efforts to combat voice phishing and online scams.
Xi urged both countries to “work together to practice genuine multilateralism and safeguard the multilateral trading system,” and called for collaboration in artificial intelligence (AI), biopharmaceuticals, green industries, and the silver economy.
“China and South Korea are important close neighbors that cannot be moved away, and cooperation partners that cannot be separated,” Xi told Lee, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.
Beijing, he said, is ready to “enhance communication, deepen cooperation” and “inject more positive energy into regional peace and development.”
China and South Korea established diplomatic relations in 1992. Bilateral trade reached $267.6 billion in 2024, according to official data. Xi last visited South Korea in 2014 under then-President Park Geun-hye, when relations were described as being at their “peak.” — Agencies
