Xi to visit S. Korea after coronavirus situation is 'stabilized,' top officials agree

SEOUL, Aug. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and China agreed Saturday that President Xi Jinping will visit South Korea "at an early date" once the COVID-19 situation is stabilized, Cheong Wa Dae said. The accord came at a meeting in Busan between President Moon Jae-in's national security adviser Suh Hoon and Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China's (CPC) Central Committee, that lasted for several hours. "The two sides agreed to get President Xi Jinping's early visit to South Korea realized after the condition is created, with the COVID-19 situation stabilized," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok said. Xi agreed to make a trip to South Korea in the first half of 2020, but it has been postponed due to the pandemic. Suh, director of Cheong Wa Dae's national security office, also stressed that South Korea would continue efforts for progress in the Korea peace process. Yang promised "constant communication and cooperation" with South Korea for the denuclearization of Korea and establishment of peace on the peninsula, according to Kang. Emerging from four hours of talks at a seaside hotel in the southern port city earlier in the day, Suh told reporters that, "I think (we) had a very good conversation, (spending) a lot of time talking about all topics broadly and enough." Yang said via translator that he had adequate and very good discussions with Suh. South Korea expects China to play a constructive role in efforts to revitalize the Korea peace process. Beijing apparently wants South Korea to better understand its position on rifts with Washington and the controversial Hong Kong national security law. Yang arrived in Busan, 325 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Friday afternoon, his first visit to South Korea in more than two years. He became the highest-profile Chinese figure to travel to South Korea since the new coronavirus outbreak. lcd@yna.co.kr (END)