China takes positive view of Trump-Kim meeting at Panmunjom: envoy
China has a positive view of the recent surprise meeting between the leaders of the United States and North Korea at the truce village of Panmunjom as it has created the momentum for positive change in the situation of the Korean Peninsula, Beijing’s top envoy in Seoul said Wednesday. Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Qiu Guohong made the remarks as he delivered a lecture during a forum of lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party at the National Assembly, lawmaker Kim Han-jung told reporters after attending the forum
In his lecture titled “the situation on the Korean Peninsula and China’s Korean policies,” Qiu was quoted as saying China has a high opinion of the June 30 meeting in which North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to resume working-level nuclear talks within a few weeks. “We hail the scene of the two leaders shaking hands and crossing the Military Demarcation Line in the Demilitarized Zone at Panmunjom, the symbol of confrontation and division (from the Korean War), as their willingness to resolve issues through dialogue,” the envoy said. Qiu also said he is looking forward to hearing further good news following the meeting and praised South Korea for its role as a “mediator” between Washington and Pyongyang.
According to the envoy, China is confident that North Korea is willing to work toward denuclearization and focus on economic development as part of its “byongjin policy” of simultaneously seeking nuclear and economic development, although some people remain skeptical whether the North Korean leader and the Pyongyang leadership will do so, he said. He also encouraged Washington and Pyongyang to hold dialogue with patience and build trust in such a process, proposing multilateral talks, including the long-stalled six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program — involving the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. In the lecture, Qiu stressed the importance that China should take part in the negotiation for a peace treaty that the North wants to sign with the U.S. as Beijing, the U.S.-led U.N. Command and North Korea signed an Armistice Agreement that ended the 1950-53 conflict.
(Yonhap)
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