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Roh Moo-hyun, president of the Republic of Korea (ROK), met with Wang Chen, president of the People's Daily on the afternoon of July 3 at the presidential office and accepted the newspaper's exclusive interview. Roh indicated that he was expecting to get acquainted with the new Chinese leaders, establish relations of mutual trust and jointly raise the ROK-China relationship to a new level.
President Roh will pay his first state visit to China July 7-10. Speaking about the aim of this visit, Roh said, "I'm very glad to go to visit China, this is a highly significant event. Many of my colleagues have been to China and have made many Chinese friends and they have told me many interesting things about China. I've never been to China, and therefore I've been longing to go to China. One of the main aims of my present China visit is to further develop ROK-China relationship in an all-round and solid manner and elevate it to a new level. I expect to get acquainted with President Hu Jintao and other new Chinese leaders, to establish relations of mutual trust with them and jointly reinforce the foundation for ROK-China friendship."
Roh said ROK-China economic and trade ties have undergone rapid development, and no major problems have ever occurred. We will continue to develop such ties in this direction. The economies of the ROK and China are highly complementary and have a wide-ranging field for cooperation, I believe comprehensive cooperation between the two countries will definitely achieve mutually beneficial and reciprocal results.
The ROK president said that among ROK's external investment, its investment in China is the greatest and this is a very good phenomenon. The two countries should continue to work hard to open up new realms of cooperation, expand exchange and strive for "win-win" results. China's rapid development is a new opportunity for the Republic of Korea, we should be good at making use of this opportunity to create favorable conditions for the development of the ROK economy.
Speaking about the new ROK government's policy toward Korea, Roh said the policy pursued by the current ROK government is basically identical with that implemented by the previous government, but necessary adjustments and revisions are made to some previous formulations and methods, for example, the previous government summed up its policy toward Korea as "sunshine policy", now the new government adjusts its policy toward Korea as a "policy of peace and prosperity". Another problem is that the previous government was a bit anxious for quick success in its policy toward Korea, but the result shows it is not ideal in some aspect. In ROK-Korea relations, it is necessary to stress principle, transparency and mutual respect and, on this basis, take solid steps forward.
The Korean nuclear issue is currently one of the focal points to the concern of the international community. Roh said, for the peaceful solution of the Korean nuclear issue, the Chinese government has made energetic efforts, for this I express my thanks and hope that China would continue its effort to this end. The direction followed by China is correct, I hope that China will continue to play its constructive role in safeguarding peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula. I firmly believe under whatever circumstances, China advocates that the Korean Peninsula be nuclear-free and opposes the use of force for the solution of the Korean nuclear issue.
When talking about the ROK's economic development as well as its objective to place itself in the ranks of the world information powers, Roh said that one major problem currently in urgent need of a solution by the ROK is to continue deepening the reforms of the four large sectors-enterprise, public department, finance and labor, structural adjustment implies that it is necessary to pursue transparency and justice in the process of establishing a market order and to set up a market mechanism complying with international standards. At present, the Republic of Korea is expediting the renovation of the government and effecting a change in the direction of making itself to be more efficient, more transparent and rendering better service for the nationals. Roh said: China has done a good job in this respect, we need to learn from China.
With regard to the development of the information industry, the ROK President suggested that the ROK and China should seek common development in the field of information industry and to promote each other.
When referring to the question of how to establish a new order of peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia, Roh said this was one of the issues he was most concerned about. Firstly, although gratifying achievements have been scored for the ROK's economy, if the country fails to actively develop the Northeast Asian market, it is impossible for it to achieve sustained development. Secondly, the Republic of Korea was subjected to colonial rule, this tragedy must not be repeated. The contradiction between continental and marine forces and the confrontation between the East and the West are presently still in existence, this constitutes a factor of instability for the future development of Northeast Asian countries, which, therefore, must be eliminated. That is to say, a new order of peace and prosperity must be established in Northeast Asia. Thirdly, world history is accompanied by conquer and war. As the economy marches step by step toward integration along with the change of the times, Northeast Asia should also learn from the method of the European Union and establish an order of peace and prosperity through dialogs and cooperation. Roh said it is practicable for the ROK and China to carry out all-round cooperation in this process.
When talking about cultural and educational exchanges and folk contacts between the two countries, the ROK President said the Orient has been influenced by the "Chinese wind" for thousands of years, nowadays, the "Chinese wind" has also blown up in the Republic of Korea, one important reason for this is the tremendous development of China in recent years; a "ROK wave" has emerged in China, to a great extent this is because of the similarity of the cultures of the ROK and China.
At the end of the interview, Wang Chen presented a Chinese painting created by Yu Yaozhong, professor of the Fine Art School of Tsinghua University and famous painter, on behalf of People's Daily to the ROK President and wished him complete success in his forthcoming trip to China.
(People's Daily July 4, 2003)
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