“I hope China will continue to play an important role in the reform and opening of North Korea and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” President Lee Myung Bak reportedly told Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang in a meeting at the Blue House yesterday.
According to a Blue House spokesperson who revealed the key points of the meeting, President Lee went on to reiterate his view that Sino-North Korean exchanges are positive, saying “North Korea and Chinese leaders coming and going let’s North Korea learn of Chinese reform and opening, and this is a good thing.”
For his part, Vice Premier Lee reportedly told President Lee about his recent meeting with Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, explaining, “I met and shared an in-depth conversation with Commission Chairman Kim. I emphasized a number of times to him that realizing Korean Peninsula denuclearization and preserving peace are important.”
Vice Premier Li arrived in Pyongyang on Sunday, spending three days in North Korea before travelling to the South for two days.
President Lee was joined for the meeting by new Minister of Unification Ryu Woo Ik and South Korean Ambassador to China Lee Kyu Hyung.
