BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping called on his visiting South Korean counterpart Monday to join Beijing in making the “right strategic choices” in a world that is “becoming more complex and turbulent”, state media reported.
Lee Jae Myung is the first South Korean leader to visit the Chinese capital in six years and his meeting with Xi came a day after the nuclear-armed North fired two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan.
It also followed a shock US military operation in Caracas that deposed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and brought him to New York to face narcotrafficking charges — a raid condemned by Beijing and Pyongyang.
At Monday’s talks, Xi warned “the world is currently undergoing accelerated changes unseen in a century, and the international situation is becoming more complex and turbulent”, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Beijing and Seoul “bear important responsibilities” in upholding peace in the region, Xi said, noting that the sides “have broad common interests”.
“They should firmly stand on the right side of history and make the right strategic choices.”
The South Korean leader then said he wished to open a “new phase” in relations, “based on the trust” between himself and Xi.
And he vowed to “seek feasible alternatives together for peace on the Korean Peninsula”, footage broadcast by Seoul’s Yonhap news agency showed.
The leaders then witnessed the signing of “15 cooperation documents” spanning technological innovation, the environment, transportation and trade, Xinhua said.
A state banquet followed the signing of the agreements, the report added.
Lee, accompanied by a delegation of business and tech leaders, hopes to secure pledges to expand economic cooperation with his country’s largest trading partner.
He has called for South Korea and China to work towards “more horizontal and mutually beneficial” trade.
On Monday, Lee also met with top executives from both South Korean and Chinese firms at Beijing’s opulent Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Yonhap reported.
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