'Fresh starts' all round as China's Xi meets South Korean, Japanese leaders at APEC

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'Fresh starts' all round as China's Xi meets South Korean, Japanese leaders at APEC

Updated

Seoul: The leaders of South Korea and China agreed on Saturday to work towards a peaceful solution to the crisis engulfing the Korean peninsula.

The two countries will strengthen strategic talks on all levels, presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan told reporters in Danang, Vietnam where the summit meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping was held on the sidelines of an APEC summit.

Tension on the Korean peninsula rose last month as North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump exchanged war-like threats and insults over the North's weapons program.

China has been urged by both South Korea and the United States to take a more active role in curbing North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Danang, Vietnam on Saturday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Danang, Vietnam on Saturday.Credit: Hau Dinh

Beijing has said it is complying with United Nations Security Council sanctions and doing all it can to curb the isolated state's provocative actions.

During Saturday's summit, Moon and Xi also agreed to quickly normalise bilateral exchanges in all sectors, reiterating an agreement announced last month to end a year-long standoff over the deployment of a US anti-missile system.

South Korean companies with Chinese customers had suffered due to backlash from China, which has vehemently opposed the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.

Xi was quoted as saying it would be "new beginnings and a good start."

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South Korean President Moon Jae-in talks with other leaders before an APEC photo call on Saturday.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in talks with other leaders before an APEC photo call on Saturday.Credit: AP

Separately, Xi met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and also pledged a "fresh start".

Ties between China and Japan, the world's second- and third-largest economies, have been plagued by a long-running territorial dispute over a cluster of East China Sea islets.

"At the end of the meeting, President Xi said this is a meeting that marks a fresh start of relations between Japan and China. I totally feel the same way," Abe told reporters.

Abe said he proposed to visit China at an appropriate time, which would then be followed by a Xi visit to Japan.

At the meeting, the two countries agreed to deepen their cooperation on North Korea and to hold a trilateral summit with South Korea at the earliest possible date.

"With the North Korea situation at an important phase, the role China ought to play is very big," Abe said.

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China and Japan have also agreed to accelerate talks for an early implementation of a communication mechanism between their military forces, Abe said.

Reuters

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