30-minute call… President Lee invites President Xi Jinping to the November APEC summit

President Lee:"Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Asking China to Play a Role"... Xi Jinping:"Peace on the Korean Peninsula is a Common Interest"

Lee: "Important partner in economy, security, etc."... Xi Jinping:"We must inject certainty into the chaotic international situation."

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lim Hyeong-seop and Hwang Yun-gi = President Lee Jae-myung held his first summit phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the 10th and discussed the direction of development in relations between the two countries.

"The two leaders spoke on the phone for about 30 minutes starting at 11:30 a.m. today," presidential spokesperson Kang Yoo-jung said in a briefing.

In the phone call, Xi Jinping congratulated President Lee on his victory in the presidential election and said,"I look forward to working with the new government to develop the Korea-China strategic cooperative partnership."

After expressing his gratitude for the Chinese leader's congratulations, the president said,"I hope that South Korea and China will continue to actively promote exchanges and cooperation in various areas, including economy, security, culture, and personnel exchanges, in the spirit of reciprocity and equality."

The two leaders shared a common understanding on the importance of developing South Korea-China relations so that they can make a real contribution to the lives of the peoples of the two countries, and agreed to make joint efforts to enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges to enhance the friendly feelings between the peoples of the two countries and to produce tangible results in the area of economic cooperation, explained Spokesperson Kang.

There was also discussion about the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held in Gyeongju in November this year.

Spokesperson Kang said,"The two leaders agreed on the need for this year's chair country (Korea) and next year's chair country (China) to work closely together to successfully host this year's Gyeongju APEC meeting."

In particular, the President invited Chairman Xi to the Gyeongju APEC Summit and expressed his hope for a closer exchange of opinions to develop relations between the two countries.

In relation to this, an official from the Blue House said,"I understand that the two leaders are in agreement that they could meet if the opportunity arises, whether it be at the APEC summit or some other such event," and "If he attends the APEC summit, it will be Chairman Xi's first visit to Korea in 11 years, so I believe it will be a significant turning point."

The official then said,"The next APEC chair country will be China." This could also be seen as a remark suggesting the possibility of mutual visits between the two leaders.

The president also asked China to play a constructive role in denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and achieving peace and stability, and President Xi responded,"Since peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula are in the common interests of both South Korea and China, China will work to resolve the issue and achieve peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula."

Spokesperson Kang said,"The two leaders spoke on the phone in a friendly and amicable atmosphere, building on their common ground of having built political careers starting from the local level," and "The two leaders agreed to continue close communication in all areas to create new South Korea-China relations on the occasion of the launch of our new government."

After the call, the president posted on social media, saying,"In his congratulatory message on my inauguration, Chairman Xi expressed his hope for the steady development of bilateral relations, and today's call confirmed his intention once again."

The president said,"China is an important partner for us in all aspects, including economy and security," and added,"I look forward to close cooperation between the two countries that will chair APEC this year and next year."

China's official Xinhua News Agency also reported the phone conversation between the two leaders.

According to Xinhua News Agency, Xi Jinping said,"China and South Korea are close neighbors who cannot be moved," adding,"We should closely strengthen bilateral cooperation and multilateral coordination, jointly safeguard multilateralism and free trade, and ensure the stability and smoothness of global and regional industrial supply chains."

The city council also stressed that "we should uphold the original intention of establishing diplomatic relations between China and South Korea, firmly uphold the direction of good-neighborly relations and friendship, adhere to the goal of mutual benefit and win-win, and develop the China-South Korea strategic cooperative partnership to a higher level, bring more benefits to the two peoples, and inject more certainty into the chaotic regional and international situations."

The president said,"I attach great importance to South Korea-China relations and hope to work with China to deeply develop good-neighborly and friendly relations between the two countries, improve and enhance the feelings between the peoples of the two countries, and make South Korea-China cooperation achieve greater results."