Spotlight: Park envisions great potential for China-S. Korea ties, expounds diplomacy for peace, stability on Korean Peninsula

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has envisioned "considerable" potential for the cooperation between her country and China, while expounding a diplomacy to lay the foundation for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.

Park made the remarks on Thursday in a written interview with several media outlets including Xinhua.

GREAT POTENTIAL FOR CHINA-S. KOREA COOPERATION

Noting that there will be "synergy" between South Korea's Eurasia Initiative and China's Belt and Road Initiative, Park said she believed that "there is considerable potential for the expansion of (South) Korea-China cooperation."

Seoul's Eurasia Initiative "is aimed at promoting peaceful exchanges between Europe and Asia through efforts to promote mutual understanding and door-opening and building a new Eurasia for common prosperity," Park said, adding that it "contains visions not only for the economy but also for culture, exchanges, security and peace."

It is "in line with" Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, the president said.

The Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by China in 2013 as a trade and infrastructure network. It will connect Asia to Europe and Africa through the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

"We have proposed to China to seek measures to link the two initiatives and consultations are on-going," Park said.

In his meeting with Park on Oct. 31, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said China wishes to conjoin its own Belt and Road Initiative with South Korea's Eurasia Initiative, the idea of mass entrepreneurship and innovation with the South Korean strategy for boosting creative economy, and the "Made in China 2025" initiative with South Korea's "Industry Innovation Movement 3.0."

China is now South Korea's largest trading partner, largest market of exports and largest source of imports, while South Korea is China's third-largest trading partner. Two-way trade is expected to reach 300 billion U.S. dollars this year, which will mark a 60-fold increase over the past two decades.

The vibrant China-South Korea economic interaction has manifested itself in massive people flows. For example, there are more than 1,000 flights between the two countries every week. In 2014, they recorded 10.37 million mutual visits of their nationals, a year-on-year increase of 26.2 percent.

"Such an increase in people-to-people exchanges between the two countries has served as a robust foundation for the development of (South) Korea-China ties," Park said.

She said the South Korean government is carrying out "a variety of policies" to help Chinese travelers visit South Korea more conveniently, including simplifying entry and exit procedures for individual tourists, increasing the number of flights and improving the quality of tourism products for Chinese tourist groups.

During Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to South Korea in July 2014,Xi suggested the two sides waive visas for service passport holders and offer visa waivers for short-time travelers between the two sides.

"Accordingly, the (South) Korean government is now conducting research into expected effects of visa exemption between the two countries and concrete measures needed to expand the scope of visa waiver status," Park said.

SOLVING KOREAN PENINSULA ISSUE THROUGH DIALOGUE

Tensions soared on the Korean Peninsula in August after a rare exchange of artillery fire and landmine explosions in the demilitarized zone.

The two Koreas put their troops on the highest alert, pushing the peninsula to the brink of armed conflict.

South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed to hold talks in Seoul or Pyongyang at an earliest possible date after a marathon dialogue on Aug. 25.

South Korea "attaches great importance to the efforts to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula through inter-Korean dialogue, exchanges and cooperation and to lay the groundwork for peaceful unification," Park said.

"In this context, the government intends to smoothly carry out the Aug. 25 Agreement as planned and advance inter-Korean relations in a stable manner," she said.

"Any form of dialogue between the South and North would be possible as long as it would be helpful in opening the door to peace and unification of the Korean Peninsula," she said, adding that "there is no reason not to hold an inter-Korean summit" if a breakthrough comes in solving the DPRK nuclear issue and progress is made in improving the South-North relationship.

"The government will continue to strive to improve inter-Korean relations. We intend to build trust step by step starting with simple and small areas and establish a foundation for peace and unification on the Korean Peninsula," Park said.

"It is crucial to coordinate with key countries in the region" to solve the DPRK nuclear issue, said Park, urging the international community to "send a clear and consistent message to induce the North to make the right choice and give up its nuclear weapons program and to become a responsible member of the international community."

Park considered her September visit to China as "an opportunity to strengthen communication and cooperation (with China) in regard to issues involving the Korean Peninsula."

During her visit, Xi expounded China's stance on the DPRK nuclear issue, saying that China always advocates the denuclearization of the peninsula, maintaining peace and stability, and resolving issues through dialogue and consultation.

All parties should adhere to the goal of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula and strive for an early resumption and positive progress of the Six-Party Talks, he said.

PURSUING FORWARD-LOOKING REGIONAL COOPERATION

In the interview, Park said Seoul will be actively engaged in regional economic integration while pursuing forward-looking cooperation with neighboring countries such as Japan and Russia.

Park said in-depth discussions on regional economic integration are expected to take place at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting scheduled for Nov. 17-19 in Manila, capital of the Philippines.

"We intend to actively participate in and contribute to smooth negotiations over a free trade agreement among (South) Korea, Japan and China and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership as well as over the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, which is being pursued by APEC," Park said.

Regarding relations with neighboring countries, Park said, "We are also actively pursuing a forward-looking cooperation and development in (South) Korea-Japan relations. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of (South) Korea-Russia diplomatic relations, efforts are being made to build harmonious ties with Russia."

South Korea and Japan are "important neighbors that have to join forces for peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia," Park said, urging the two countries to "tackle history issues on the basis of a correct understanding of history, thereby creating a turning point for a new journey into the future" in this year, which marks the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral ties.

The president said she and Japanese Prime Minister Shizo Abe have agreed to expedite consultations for the early resolution of the "comfort women" issue, a contentious issue between the two countries, at the South Korea-Japan summit held on Nov. 2 in Seoul.

"I hope the bilateral summit held in three and a half years will provide momentum for the resolution of the issue and serve as a watershed in the relations between our two countries, going a long way toward building trust between our two nations," Park said. Endi