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No nuclear weapons for North Korea. That was the reaffirmation made by the leaders
of South Korea and China on Sunday, as they met in The Hague ahead of this week's Nuclear
Security Summit. Our presidential office correspondent Choi
You-sun is traveling with the president and she filed this report from The Hague. President
Park Geun-hye discussed better cooperation on curbing North Korea's nuclear program with
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday. The two leaders met for the fourth time ahead
of this year's Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague.
President Park stressed Pyongyang cannot achieve economic development while continuing with
its nuclear weapons program. To that end, President Xi said China opposes
North Korea as a nuclear weapons state, and that Beijing is, in its own way, persuading
its ally to fulfill its previous international denuclearization pledges.
This comes after President Park urged North Korea's traditional allies China and Russia,
in an interview with a Dutch broadcaster, to push Pyongyang harder to give up its nuclear
arms. The Chinese leader then endorsed President
Park's trust-building initiatives on the Korean peninsula and policies for a peaceful reunification.
President Park said a unified Korean peninsula would be nuclear-free, symbolic of peace,
generating a new growth engine in Northeast Asia.
On the trade front, the Korean president said the two sides should try to finalize negotiations
for a Korea-China FTA within the year, to which her Chinese counterpart agreed.
"On Monday, President Park will seek ways to boost bilateral ties with Dutch Prime Minister
Mark Rutte. She will then give an opening speech at the Nuclear Security Summit.
Choi You-sun, Arirang News, The Hague."