President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will hold a bilateral summit meeting in Beijing on Thursday, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday.

Moon, who will begin the four-day state visit to China on Wednesday, will be meeting with Xi for the third time, and discussions will focus on security issues and ways to improve bilateral ties, Cheong Wa Dae said.

Seoul and Beijing, however, will not issue a joint statement in light of differences in the two sides’ positions on issues surrounding the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system. 



“A joint statement will not be issued as the two countries are not in a position to put forward unified positions on issues (including THAAD),” a Cheong Wa Dae official said on condition of anonymity.

The official added that the joint statement issued by the two countries’ foreign ministries on Oct. 31 stands, and that it is unclear whether THAAD-related issues will be mentioned by Xi during the meeting.

In the Oct. 31 statement, the foreign ministries said that Seoul and Beijing have agreed to improve relations, while confirming their stances on THAAD. China has opposed its deployment in South Korea from the outset, claiming that the equipment is potentially damaging to its national security. Seoul, on the other hand, maintains that THAAD is directed solely at North Korea and poses no threat to China or any other country in the region.

Regarding Moon’s trip in general, high-level Seoul officials said that matters regarding North Korea, and ways to improve cooperation in a wide range of fields will be at the top of the agenda.

“The two leaders will discuss ways to strengthen political, economic, social, cultural and human exchange and cooperation to develop a future-oriented strategic partnership,” Nam Gwan-pyo, a deputy director of the National Security Council said.

“Ways to improve regional and global peace, security and development including means to peacefully resolving the North Korean nuclear issue and establishing peace on the peninsula will be discussed.”

Moon’s trip to China comes two weeks since Pyongyang’s latest missile launch, assessed by Seoul and the US to mark a significant advancement in North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile program.

Following the two-day stay in Beijing, Moon will wrap up his visit with a trip to Chongqing in southwestern China on Friday and Saturday. During his stay in Chongqing, Moon will visit the site of the provisional government of Korea, which operated in various locations in China during Japan’s occupation of the Korean Peninsula in the first half of the 20th century.

The South Korean president is also scheduled to meet with Chen Min’er, the secretary of the Communist Party of China for the city.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)