S. KOREA–CHINA SUMMIT PUTS TIES BACK ON TRACK – PRESIDENT LEE

SEOUL, Nov 2 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung said on Sunday that his recent summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping helped put relations between the two countries back on track, Yonhap News Agency reported.

In a Facebook post uploaded in both Korean and Chinese, Lee highlighted the significance of his talks with Xi, held on Saturday during the latter’s first visit to South Korea in 11 years.

“The South Korea–China summit was quite meaningful in that it helped fully restore our bilateral relations and put us back on the path of mutual prosperity as strategic cooperative partners,” he said.

Lee also quoted Xi’s description of the two countries as “close neighbours who cannot move apart and inseparable partners in cooperation.”

“As President Xi said, the two countries have transcended their differences in social systems and ideologies to build trust over a long period of time.

“We have encountered challenges of varying degrees, but I am convinced that the deep friendship and history we have built together have not wavered,” he said.

Lee added that he would strive to deliver “tangible results” that the peoples of both countries can feel, based on the consensus that people’s livelihoods are the most important foundation.

During Xi’s visit, South Korea and China renewed their currency swap deal — a move that Lee said would help stabilise financial markets and trade between the two nations.

The president also pledged to further strengthen the institutional framework for economic cooperation by accelerating negotiations on a free trade agreement covering services and investments.

Lee said he hoped to visit China “in the not-too-distant future” and help the two countries become even closer as neighbours.

-- BERNAMA-YONHAP