South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Chinese President Hu Jintao are scheduled to hold a summit in Beijing on Friday to discuss joint countermeasures against North Korea's claimed success in testing a nuclear bomb, Roh's spokesman Yoon Tae-young said Thursday.
During his one-day trip to Beijing, Roh will also meet separately with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said Yoon.
A ranking South Korean government official said North Korea's nuclear test would be the predominant topic at the Roh-Hu summit, but both sides have no plan to issue any joint statement.
"Summit discussions will be focused on an effect-oriented method of crisis settlement, rather than an emotional one. The two sides will separately announce mutually fine-tuned agreements after the summit, instead of issuing a joint statement," said the official.
He noted that China's attempt to distort the history of Korea's ancient kingdoms, including Goguryeo, measures to boost bilateral trade and other regional issues of mutual concern will be discussed at the summit talks.
The official added that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was originally scheduled to visit South Korea, China and Japan in early November, but is likely to advance her Northeast Asian trip due to North Korea's alleged nuclear weapon test.
Roh's upcoming trip to China will be the first working meeting by the two countries' leaders since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties in 1992. It will be the third meeting between Roh and Hu, following the South Korean leader's visit to Beijing in July 2003 and Hu's visit to South Korea in November 2005.
Friday's summit is also expected to strengthen the "comprehensive partnership relations" agreed upon at the South Korea-China summit in July 2003, the spokesman explained.
"The improvement of South Korean-Chinese relations, the peaceful settlement of the North Korean nuclear weapons problem and regional and international issues of mutual concern will be put on the agenda at the Roh-Hu summit," Yoon explained.
Roh and Hu met separately with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the past week to discuss similar regional issues.
Seoul, Oct. 12 (Yonhap News)
Roh, Hu to hold summit in Beijing Friday to discuss N. Korean issues |
