S. KOREA-CHINA FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET

[Anchor Lead]

At the G20 foreign ministers' meeting held in Indonesia, South Korea's foreign minister has met with his Chinese counterpart for the first time. The two sides have agreed to bolster high-level bilateral communication and improve economic cooperation.

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The foreign ministers of South Korea and China have met on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting. South Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, spoke for about 50 minutes. They discussed ways to improve bilateral ties.

[Soundbite] Park Jin(S. Korean Foreign Minister) : "Korea and China must build mutual trust and respect to become equal partners and maintain sound and mature relations in the next 30 years."

The two ministers have agreed to hold face-to-face meetings on a regular basis. Park plans to visit China as soon as possible and invite Wang to Korea before the end of the year. The two sides have also agreed to establish strategic communication channels between the two nations through talks between their vice foreign ministers. Park and Wang have agreed to improve economic cooperation by discussing the Korea-China FTA service and investment sectors as well as supply chain stabilization. Park offered to resume and expand human exchanges to prepare for the post-pandemic era. Wang says China wants to expand cooperation with Korea in various sectors including culture and economy as the two nations mark the 30th anniversary of their diplomatic ties. Park also explained Seoul's stance on its participation in the NATO meeting, a sensitive subject for Beijing, and emphasized value-based diplomacy. Wang said Beijing is ready to promote a strategic bilateral partnership with Seoul so that both sides can mutually benefit from it.

[Soundbite] Wang Yi(Chinese Foreign Minister) : "The two nations may face challenges down the road, but China's relations with the new Korean gov‘t matters to us."

Park urged Beijing's constructive role in persuading North Korea to stop its provocations immediately and return to the negotiating table. On Friday, the foreign ministers of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are to discuss cooperation on the North Korea nuclear issue based on the outcome of the trilateral summit held last week.