ROK President Kim Dae-jung met with Xu Zhongtian, president of People’s Daily and the China Newspaper Association, and accepted an exclusive interview by People’s Daily journalist in his presidential residence Cheong Wa Dae on June 3.

Since ROK and China established diplomatic ties 10 years ago the bilateral relations have been developing rapidly, Kim stressed, adding that cooperation should be furthered to achieve a win-win deal.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, and Kim firstly asked Xu to convey his greetings to President Jiang Zemin and other Chinese leaders.

Kim expressed his satisfaction over the rapid development of ROK-China bilateral ties which, he recalled, firstly focused on trade and then fixed at "cooperative partnership facing the 21st century" when he visited China and met President Jiang in 1998. Then, when premier Zhu visited ROK in 2000, the two sides agreed to push forward the partnership to a new stage of overall cooperation. Now cooperation relations are developing in the fields of politics, economy, culture, and tourism.

Statistics show that trade volumes between the two countries are now 6 times that of 10 years ago and the two have become each other's third biggest trade partner. Last year's trade volume turned out to be US$31.5 billion and ROK's investment in China increased by 38 times to reach US$5.4 billion. China has become ROK's biggest object for overseas investment and personnel exchanges increased by 23 times to reach 2 million.

Talking about the Korean Peninsula situation and the south-north relations, Kim said an inter-Korea ministerial meeting was held not long ago and a series of agreements were reached, some already realized. The situation of the Peninsula is now tending toward stability and peace.

The south-north relations have been improving since their leaders met in 2000 and the possibility of military confrontation has been reducing, said Kim. At the same time the Korea-US relations should also be improved through talks, said Kim.

China has always been for the stability and peace of Korean peninsula, and played an important role in promoting it, said Kim.

The opening ceremony of 2002 World Cup was successfully held, showing the world a ROK combining tradition with modern technology and being praised by the international community. Chinese soccer team's participation in ROK is not only to help forward friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two peoples, but also a gift for the 10th anniversary of ROK-China ties.

Media exchanges and cooperation between the two countries would promote development in the fields of economy, trade and culture, said Kim, hoping further cooperation to push forward bilateral ties.

Kim thanked again People’s Daily for its support when he was prosecuted and asked People’s Daily to convey his good wishes to Chinese people.

(People’s Daily June 5, 2002)