hankyoreh

By Cho Hye-jeong, staff reporter

President Park Geun-hye is scheduled to visit China in mid-June to discuss North Korea and her initiative for a trust-building process on the Korean peninsula with President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders.

The Blue House said on May 17 that China had "made several invitations for the President to visit China," adding that discussions were currently under way on the timing for a visit. Sources said the Blue House was in talks with Beijing for a four-day visit in mid-June.

The visit is already drawing major attention, as Park has emphasized the important role she sees Beijing as having when it comes to resolving issues related to North Korea.

At a May 15 meeting with the heads of political bureaus at various news outlets, Park said, "North Korea depends a lot on China, so I believe China has a very important role in bringing about changes in North Korea."

"The US and the rest of the world hope so as well," she added.

The remarks came after her appointment of close associates and former lawmakers Kwon Young-se and Gu Sang-chan as ambassador to Beijing and general consul in Shanghai, respectively.

At the summit with Xi, Park is expected to address topics such as Beijing's cooperation in encouraging changes from Pyongyang, her trust-building process, and her vision for regional peace and cooperation.

A Blue House source said, "cooperation on resolving North Korea issues will be the most important item on the agenda."

In particular, the source said the President would take discussions on her trust-building initiative to a higher level than the two countries' foreign ministers and reaffirming China's support for it.

She is also expected to talk about economic and trade cooperation, including a potential bilateral free trade agreement or trilateral agreement with Japan, as well as support for people-to-people exchanges.

Noting a change in the stance of Pyongyang's staunch allies in Beijing, the Blue House is hoping the summit talks will help usher in a breakthrough on the closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex and a number of issues in inter-Korean relations, not least of them the North Korean nuclear program.

Recently, China joined in on enforcing United Nations Security Council sanctions against North Korea after its third nuclear test. It also affirmed its support for Park's trust-building process after a meeting of the two countries' foreign ministers last month. Xi himself has shown a favorable response to Park, sending her a personal message calling for a stronger "strategic cooperation partnership."

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