Korea-China summit held; Korea to join Chinese CDMA project

President Kim Dae-Jung and Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji held a summit meeting Wednesday afternoon at Chong Wa Dae. The two leaders shared a positive assessment of inter-Korean relations and developments surrounding the Korean peninsula following the June 15 inter-Korean summit. They also agreed that their countries will cooperate to build a peace mechanism on the peninsula through the four-party talks involving the two sides, the United States and China.

In particular, the Chinese prime minister expressed full support for the Seoul's policies toward Pyongyang, stating that he backs the inter-Korean efforts to attain independent and peaceful unification.

The two leaders also agreed that the two sides will expand bilateral economic cooperation and that China will approve Seoul's participation in its CDMA (code division multiple access) project and Korea¡¯s Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Company¡¯s commencement of operations in China. They also concurred that their bilateral relations should develop into a full-blown cooperative ones.

At the same time, Kim and Zhu agreed to make efforts to conclude a contract on the mutual currency swap system now under negotiation by working-level officials as soon as possible. In addition to the existing Korea-China Industrial Cooperation Committee, the two agreed to explore alternative ways of promoting cooperation in the fields of information-telecommunications, finance and insurance, as well as the production of finished cars, the construction of high-speed railways and nuclear reactors, the environment, coal mines and steel through the projected Korea-China Joint Private Investment Cooperation Committee.

The visiting Chinese leader requested Korea's participation in China's large-scale development projects in its western region. The two men agreed to work out concrete measures to this end and sealed a pact on the establishment of a bilateral cooperation committee for the Chinese venture.

Kim and Zhu agreed to hold tripartite summit talks with the Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshiro Mori, on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Plus-Three conference slated for November in Singapore. The two also concurred on a plan to regularize the tripartite talks, so that the three major Asian nations can maintain cooperative ties in international diplomacy.

During the summit, President Kim extended invitations to Chinese President Jiang Zemin and National People's Congress Chairman Lee Peng to visit Korea. Following the summit meeting, Foreign Affairs-Trade Minister Lee Joung-Binn and Chinese ambassador to Korea Wu Dawei signed the Korea-China Criminal Extradition Treaty.