Chinese leader Xi Jinping proposes a toast at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.[Yonhap News Photo]
A South Korean ruling party lawmaker who headed an official delegation to a forum in China this week, expressed optimism over the restoration of bilateral relations after he met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Park Byeong-seug said that Xi allowed an unscheduled meeting with his delegation Sunday on the sidelines of the two-day Belt and Road Forum in Beijing. The meeting followed months of frozen ties between Asia's two major economies over a US missile shield brought to the Korean peninsula to intercept North Korean ballistic missiles.
"I think we saw signs of ending a stalemate in strained relations between South Korea and China," the lawmaker told South Korean reporters based in Beijing, adding his delegation had an opportunity to talk with a number of Chinese officials.
The Chinese president emphasized the importance of ties for regional and global peace, revealing his trust with President Moon Jae-in who called for improved ties in a telephone conversation with Xi last week, Park said.
Lee Hae-chan, a veteran politician who served as prime minister in 2004, was selected Monday as Moon's special envoy to China.
The forum is dedicated to Xi's signature foreign policy project, the Belt and Road Initiative, also known as "One Belt, One Road" after its two main components: the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
China has touted the forum as the major international event of the year, with 29 heads of state or government to be in attendance. South Korean had been sidelined due to a diplomatic deadlock caused by the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on the Korean peninsula.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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