Park's visit aids 'trust-building process'

Chinese and ROK presidents committed to maintaining regional peace

Beijing and Seoul on Thursday stressed a joint commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and maintaining regional peace, calling for an early restart of the Six-Party Talks to realize that vision.

President Xi Jinping and Park Geun-hye, visiting president of the Republic of Korea, made the remarks as they met at the Great Hall of the People.

Observers said Beijing and Seoul are expected to see progress in their common understanding on the Korean Peninsula issue, and that China-ROK ties will achieve remarkable growth under the two new presidents.

The nations also agreed to reinforce bilateral strategic communication on political and security issues, which analysts said is conducive to the Northeast Asian situation.

Park, a self-taught fluent Mandarin speaker, arrived in Beijing earlier Thursday to kick off her four-day state visit.

It is her second overseas visit since taking office in February, after a US visit last month.

She has put the Korean Peninsula situation at the top of the agenda for her China trip.

"China is firm and serious about its commitment to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula," Xi said.

He added China is against any move undermining regional peace and stability and insists on solving problems through dialogue and negotiations.

Xi welcomed the "trust-building process" on the peninsula raised by Park. The process aims at containing the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear development, pushing its cooperation with the ROK and gradually building trust between the two.

He noted "positive changes" on the peninsula recently, calling for relevant sides to "seize the opportunity and work together to strive for an early restart of the Six-Party Talks".

While a planned meeting with Seoul fell through, Pyongyang has offered direct talks with Washington, and has sent two envoys to Beijing in the past four weeks.

Park said she appreciates Beijing's key role in pushing forward denuclearization and maintaining peace on the peninsula.

Seoul is committed to improving ties with Pyongyang on the basis of dialogue and trust, paving the way to final peaceful reunification of the peninsula, she said.

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