Two heads of state to hold talks on sidelines of Apec forum in Vietnam next week, news agency reports
China and South Korea’s presidents will hold talks next week after the two nations agreed to normalise relations amid a year-long stand-off over the deployment of a US anti-missile shield, according to a news agency report.
The meeting between Xi Jinping and Moon Jae-in will be held on the sidelines of an Apec forum to be held in Da Nang, Vietnam, next week, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
The meeting will be “the first step in implementing an agreement to quickly put exchanges between the two countries on the right track,” the report cited Nam Gwan-pyo, a director of South Korea’s presidential national security office, as saying.
The announcement came after a meeting between Nam and China’s assistant foreign minister Kong Xuanyou.
China, South Korea defence ministers hold first meeting in two years
Relations between China and South Korea have soured over the deployment of the US-developed Terminal High Altitude Area Defence missile shield system.
South Korea says it is needed to counter the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme. China says the system poses as a threat to its security as its tracking systems can pry into Chinese territory.
Statements released by the two countries’ foreign ministries following the meeting between Nam and Kong said they had agreed to put their ties back on track.
