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President Moon is interviewed by a reporter from China’s CCTV at the Blue House on Dec. 8. The network aired the interview on Dec. 11. (provided by Blue House)
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President Moon hopes to build lasting rapport during upcoming third meeting with Xi Jinping
On the eve of his first China visit as a guest of the state since taking office, President Moon Jae-in focused on preparations on Dec. 12 without an official schedule. His chief concern was moving beyond the THAAD issue and building trust with Chinese President Xi Jinping to increase mutual cooperation. With no solution in sight on the THAAD issue – the main “hot potato” for the two sides – Moon plans to work to convince Beijing to resolve the matter over time. In a Dec. 11 interview with China’s CCTV network, he stressed the importance of “the wisdom to see the other side’s position and allow some time to resolve the issues that can’t be fixed all at once.” “We need to resolve the THAAD issue separately while ushering in a new era between our two countries for areas such as the economic, culture, politics, security, human exchange, and tourism,” he suggested. Moon’s call for “the wisdom to allow some time to resolve issues” recalls the solution proposed by Deng Xiaoping, the architect of China’s reforms and openness, at the time of a dispute with Japan over claims to the Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands. Deng, a proponent of pragmatism, reforms, and openness declared in an Oct. 1978 visit to the Japan – the first by a Chinese head of state – that he “believes the relatively wise thing would be for the two governments to leave alone” the Senkaku Islands dispute. “We can leave this issue for now and deal with it in another ten years [the next generation or the generation after that],” he continued at the time. “Our generation lacks the necessary wisdom and has been unable to find a solution on this issue, but our wiser descendants will surely find a solution that both sides can accept.” Moon is also focusing on building trust with Xi. On Dec. 12, he carefully read the text of a 3-hour, 24-minute speech delivered by Xi at the opening ceremony of the 19th Chinese Communist Party National Congress in October. “My main goal in this China visit is to restore the relationship of trust between South Korea and China,” Moon said in his CCTV interview. “In China, they have the saying: ‘Awkward at the first meeting, familiar at the second meeting, old friends by the third meeting,’” he noted. “Since I’m meeting President Xi for the third time, I want us to become ‘lao pengyou,’ old friends” he added. On his impression of Xi, Moon said, “In his words and actions, I feel he is a very sincere leader you can trust.” The Blue House shared a concrete schedule the same day for Moon’s visit. Moon is to arrive in Beijing on Dec. 13 and speak to local Koreans and deliver a speech before the South Korea-China Business Forum before holding a summit with Xi on Dec. 14. On Dec. 15, he is scheduled to speak at Peking University and meet with Premier Li Keqiang and National People's Congress Standing Committee Chairman Zhang Dejiang. On Dec. 16, he is to visit the site of the provisional South Korean government in Chongqing and meet for a luncheon with city CCP secretary Chen Min’er. He is scheduled to return South Korea following an afternoon visit to Hyundai Motor’s No. 5 factory in Chongqing. By Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporter Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
