1. The seventh vice foreign ministerial strategic dialogue between the Republic of Korea and China took place in Seoul on February 16, with First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam and China’s Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui leading their respective delegations. In the meeting, the two sides exchanged in-depth views on matters of mutual concern, including the ROK-China relations; the situation on the Korean Peninsula; and regional and global issues.

* Vice Minister Zhang paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se after the strategic dialogue.

2. Vice Ministers Lim and Zhang noted with appreciation that the two countries have seen more satisfactory advances than ever in their relations in various fields over the past three years under the leadership of their Presidents, and agreed to continue such advances in an unswerving manner. To this end, they agreed to step up strategic communication, including through high-level exchanges and the four major strategic dialogue mechanisms; to seek maximum benefits from the ROK-China FTA; and to conduct projects to strengthen the bilateral bond on humanities.

3. The Chinese side explained in detail the progress in the work on a UN Security Council resolution. The two sides shared the view that a strong and effective Security Council resolution should be adopted as soon as possible to make North Korea pay a painful price for its recent nuclear and missile provocations. They agreed to accelerate close consultations with each other through various channels, including at the UN.

4. Vice Minister Lim explained diverse measures that the ROK government had taken in response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats. Vice Minister Zhang asked for the ROK government’s respect for China’s interests and matters of concern. In that light, the two sides agreed to further strengthen strategic communication with each other.

5. The two sides, reaffirming their commitment to continue advances in the ROK-China strategic cooperative partnership, agreed to make good use of not only the efforts to normalize the ROK-Japan-China cooperation by building on the outcome of the successful trilateral summit talks in November 2015 but also multilateral meetings, such as the forthcoming Nuclear Security Summit and G20 Summit.

6. Vice Ministers Lim and Zhang agreed to hold the eighth ROK-China vice foreign ministerial strategic dialogue in China at a mutually convenient time in 2016.


* unofficial translation