Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The People’s Republic of China
Wang Yi Has a Phone Call with the ROK Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul
Updated: February 06, 2024 23:30

On February 6, 2024, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a phone call with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea Cho Tae-yul at the latter's request.

Wang Yi congratulated Cho Tae-yul on his appointment as the ROK Foreign Minister, saying that China and the ROK are important neighbors and cooperative partners and that bilateral relations have achieved fruitful results since the establishment of diplomatic relations, bringing massive benefit to the people of the two countries and playing a positive role in promoting regional peace. China has maintained a stable and consistent policy towards the ROK and has always regarded the ROK as an important cooperative partner. He expressed hope that the ROK side will pursue a positive, objective and friendly policy towards China, stay committed to the one-China principle, maintain the political foundation for China-ROK relations, and bring bilateral relations back on the track of sound and stable development. Noting that the two economies are closely connected, and the two industrial and supply chains are highly inter-embedded, Wang Yi called on both sides to jointly keep the industrial and supply chains stable and smooth and jointly steer clear of politicizing and instrumentalizing economic issues and overstretching the concept of security.

Cho Tae-yul said, since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, bilateral cooperation has gained leap-forward development. ROK-China relations are very important. The ROK government attaches great importance to developing relations with China and is ready to enhance mutual trust, focus on cooperation, advance high-level exchanges, accumulate achievements in economy, culture, and other fields, and push for the sustainable development of bilateral relations. The ROK remains unchanged in its position on one China. The ROK and China have close economic and trade ties. The ROK side agrees that economic and trade issues should not be overstretched as security concerns, and the two sides can strengthen communication and coordination on keeping the industrial and supply chains stable.

Wang Yi stressed that "Close neighbors are better than distant relatives". As the New Year is the Year of the Dragon, Wang Yi expressed the hope that China-ROK relations will be full of vigor, show a new atmosphere, and open up new prospects, so as to bring more benefits to the two peoples. Both sides agreed that it is very important to reaffirm the strategic cooperative partnership between China and the ROK.

The two sides also had an exchange of views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula, among others. Noting the tense moment currently on the Korean Peninsula was not for nothing, Wang Yi expressed the hope that all parties will remain calm, exercise restraint, refrain from words and deeds that aggravate tensions, and address their respective legitimate concerns through dialogue and consultation.