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| ▲ President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a meeting with Korean residents in Beijing on Jan. 4, 2026. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ President Lee Jae Myung (R) and first lady Kim Hea Kyung salute the national flag during a meeting with Korean residents in Beijing on Jan. 4, 2026. (Yonhap) |
Lee-Korean residents
Lee calls China 'important partner' for peace on Korean Peninsula
By Kim Eun-jung
BEIJING, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung said Sunday that China is a "very important partner" for peace and unification on the Korean Peninsula, ahead of his summit talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss ways to improve ties with North Korea.
Lee made the remarks during a meeting with Korean residents after arriving in Beijing to begin his four-day state visit. Hours before his arrival, North Korea fired unidentified ballistic missiles toward the East Sea, marking its first test of weapons this year.
"China is a very important cooperative partner in moving toward peace and unification on the Korean Peninsula," Lee said.
He highlighted China's role in peace initiatives on the peninsula, noting that Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse once hosted the six-party talks aimed at resolving North Korea's nuclear issue. The multilateral talks, involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, were held between 2003 and 2007.
Lee said his visit "would serve as a new starting point to fill in the gaps in Korea-China relations, restore them to normal and upgrade them to a new level."
He also stressed the importance of expanding economic cooperation with China in new areas, citing China's advances in fintech, such as Alipay and the widespread adoption of electric vehicles.
Referring to the fine dust that once blew in from China each spring in the past, Lee said South Koreans "hardly worry about it anymore," calling the change "tremendous progress."
"While China competes with us in global markets, there is plenty of room for cooperation in renewable energy, bio and silver industries," he said.
Lee noted that his visit comes just two months after Xi's first trip to South Korea in 11 years, calling the leaders' reciprocal state visits within such a short period "unprecedented."
He said the unusually brief interval between the visits shows the two countries' shared consensus to quickly normalize relations, hoping his trip will be "an important milestone" in shaping the next 30 years of bilateral ties.
Lee also cited the full restoration of relations with China as one of his major foreign policy achievements since taking office in June last year, when the country experienced what he described as a "vacuum in leadership" following former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid in December 2024.
Addressing difficulties faced by Korean residents in China during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lee said the government will communicate more closely with them and provide support.
He pledged to work to ease the inconveniences faced by Korean residents who must travel long distances to cast their ballots, noting that there are only about 10 polling stations across China.
"We will speed up efforts to improve the overseas voting system so that your right to vote is not hindered," he said.
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