Yoon voices hope for S. Korea, China to cooperate for peace in response to N.K. troop dispatch to Russia

President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed hope Friday for South Korea and China to work together to promote regional peace and stability in response to growing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the margins of a multilateral summit in Peru.

Yoon and Xi held their first in-person meeting in two years during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Lima amid deepening concerns that North Korea’s troop deployment to Russia could expand the war in Ukraine and will have broad security implications for both Europe and the Indo-Pacific.

At the summit, Yoon stressed the importance of maintaining close communication and cooperation between the two countries to address various challenges facing both countries in the midst of “rapid shifts in global security and economic order.”

“I hope that our two nations will cooperate to promote stability and peace in the region in response to North Korea’s repeated provocations, the war in Ukraine and military cooperation between Russia and North Korea,” Yoon said in his opening remarks.

Yoon described China as an “important country” for close cooperation in areas of security, economy, culture and people-to-people exchanges, saying that he expects the two nations to develop their strategic cooperative partnership based on “mutual respect, reciprocity, and common interests.”

Xi echoed Yoon’s remarks, saying two countries should pursue “healthy and steady” development of bilateral ties to contribute more to regional peace, stability and prosperity and bring benefits to people of both nations.

“While the global and regional situation has changed a lot over the past two years, China-South Korea relations have overall maintained momentum for development,” Xi said through a translator.

“Regardless of how circumstances shift, the two countries should adhere to the original intention of establishing bilateral diplomatic ties, uphold the direction of good-neighborly friendship, and remain committed to the goal of mutual benefit and co-prosperity,” Xi added.

Beijing recently added South Korea to its list of temporary visa waiver countries, a move cautiously welcomed by Seoul as a step toward improving bilateral ties. South Korea expressed hope that this decision would help foster a more “friendly sentiment” between the two nations.