Beijing - The presidents of China and South Korea on Tuesday
agreed to develop a strategic partnership and promised more
cooperation on regional issues such as North Korea.
Chinese President Hu Jintao and his South Korean counterpart, Lee
Myung Bak, agreed to upgrade bilateral relations to a 'strategic
cooperative partnership,' state television said.
Hu said the two sides should expand trade and investment ties, and
become more involved in multilateral cooperation on security in
North-east Asia, UN reform and climate change.
China would 'continue to play a constructive role' in six-party
negotiations on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, Hu
was quoted as saying.
'China is willing to work with other parties to comprehensively
implement the second phase of the six-party talks,' he said.
South Korea would also continue working to resolve the nuclear
negotiations and saw 'some achievements' from the earlier rounds,
China Central Television quoted Lee as saying.
Foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang earlier said Wu Dawei, China's
chief negotiator, would meet his US, North Korean, Japanese and South
Korean counterparts in the next few days.
US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill and North Korean
Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan were in Beijing for the talks,
state media said.
The latest obstacle stalling the negotiations is North Korea's
failure to give a full declaration of all nuclear programmes and
facilities, which it had agreed to do with the other five nations
involved in the talks.
North and South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia
last held talks in October.
Hu also thanked Lee for sending a South Korean rescue team to
China's earthquake-devastated province of Sichuan and said donations
for relief work from South Korean citizens 'fully reflect the deep
friendship between our two countries'.
He accepted an invitation to visit South Korea in the second half
of this year, while Lee agreed to attend the opening ceremony of the
Beijing Olympics in August.
Lee said the Olympics would have 'deep significance' and backed
Hu's leadership of earthquake relief in Sichuan, where at least
67,000 people died.
'I hope, under the leadership of President Hu Jintao, Chinese
people can work together and rebuild their homes as soon as
possible,' the semi-official China News Service quoted Lee as saying.
The two sides signed several agreements covering fields including
science and technology, justice and education, the agency said.
Qin said China believed the military alliance between the United
States and South Korea was a 'Cold War product'.
He said said East Asian nations had 'also changed a lot' since the
US-South Korean alliance was forged in the 1950-53 Korean War.
Lee's four-day visit is his first trip to China as South Korea's
leader. He is also scheduled to visit the eastern port of Qingdao,
which is home to about 5,000 South Korean companies.
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