Seoul, Beijing push for virtual summit in January

Yang Jiechi, a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, expressed Beijing’s strong support of South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s bid to declare the end of the Korean War during his meeting with Suh Hoon, director of national security at the South Korean presidential office. The two sides agreed to push for a virtual summit meeting between Moon and Chinese President Xi Jinping in January, and are discussing details.

"China supports the push to declare the end of the war and believe that the end-of-war declaration will contribute to promoting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” Yang was quoted by the National Security Office at the presidential office on Friday. “China consistently supports the South Korean government’s efforts to improve inter-Korean ties and will continue efforts towards peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.” Suh visited China for two days from Thursday at the invitation of Yang, and they held meetings for 5 hours and 35 minutes including a dinner on Friday.

On Beijing’s support of the end-of-war declaration, a ranking Seoul official said, “It means China has intention to play a constructive role in discussions about the end-of-war declaration.” However, China reportedly stopped short of mentioning specific ways to support the efforts. In October, Yang met with North Korean Ambassador to China Ri Yong Nam, but the two sides reportedly did not discuss the end-of-war declaration. Thus, watchers say Beijing agrees to Seoul’s push for the end-of-war declaration as a party to the Armistice Treaty. China also revealed its stance that it is premature to discuss specific ways including wording on the end-of-war declaration, which has been discussed between Seoul and Washington. The Chinese foreign ministry emphasized economic cooperation and the Beijing Winter Olympics in lieu of the end-of-war declaration on its website.


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