Park to meet China’s top leaders amid Victory Day ceremony

President Park Geun-hye will have talks with China’s top leaders including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang during her trip to Beijing this week to discuss major bilateral security and economic issues.

According to the Blue House, Park will start her three-day trip to China holding discussions with President Xi. The president is scheduled to visit Beijing and Shanghai from tomorrow until Friday.

The two leaders are expected to discuss bilateral ties, affairs on the Korean Peninsula and regional issues, said Joo Chul-ki, presidential senior secretary for foreign affairs and security.

“It will serve as an important opportunity to review the development of bilateral relations in the past two and half years Park and Xi have been in office and to discuss how to boost them further,” he said Monday.

Joo also noted that the meeting, which will take place on the sidelines of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, will be a chance for the two leaders to share their opinions on peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.

The latest developments in inter-Korean relations, including the recent provocations by the North and the subsequent talks, are expected to be addressed, as well as Pyongyang’s nuclear arms program. Japan’s attempts to reinterpret its pacifist constitution are also likely to be a topic of interest.

Park is slated to meet with Premier Li later in the afternoon, when the two will review measures to develop bilateral ties, including the Korea-China free trade agreement, Joo said.

The president will also attend a welcome dinner hosted by Xi and his wife to wrap up Park’s first day in Beijing.

On Thursday, the president will attend a series of events commemorating the 70th anniversary of Victory Day, including a lavish military parade scheduled at Tiananmen Square from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Joo said.

“China offered to provide special treatments for Park for the event,” the secretary added.

The president will travel to Shanghai later in the day, and on Friday, she will attend the opening ceremony of South Korea’s provisional government building and the Korea-China Business Forum.

“The largest-ever economic delegation will accompany President Park,” the Blue House said.

A group of 156 delegates including 128 businessmen will attend the business forum. Of them, 23 represent conglomerates, while the rest represent small enterprises.

BY SER MYO-JA [ser.myoja@joongang.co.kr]