Park to meet with two other top Chinese leaders after summit with Xi

South Korean President Park Geun-hye will meet one-on-one with two other top Chinese leaders after summit talks with President Xi Jinping during a trip to Beijing this week, a senior presidential official said Tuesday.

Park's four-day state visit to China will begin Thursday when she is scheduled to meet with Xi to discuss how to handle North Korea's nuclear program and enhance economic and other cooperation, the official said.

On Friday, Park plans to meet with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and then with Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, according to the senior presidential foreign affairs and security secretary, Ju Chul-ki.

Ju said that Park's visit is expected to strengthen cooperation with China on North Korea policy, including resolving the standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, with the aim of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and maintaining peace in the region.

The trip is also expected to enhance the personal bond between Park and Xi, he said.

After the summit, the two countries plan to issue a joint communique laying out the future vision for their relations so as to make the "strategic cooperative partnership" between the sides more substantial, the official said.

Economic issues will also be discussed as key topics during the summit, including a proposed free trade deal and ways to increase trade and investment. A series of memoranda of understanding on economic cooperation will be signed on the sidelines of the trip, Ju said.

From Beijing, Park plans to fly to the ancient city of Xian in western China on Saturday.

Xian, one of the oldest Chinese cities, is an unusual choice for a presidential visit. Her predecessors usually visited Shanghai after Beijing. Park will be the first South Korean president to visit Xian.

Ju said that Park decided to visit Xian as it is an ancient city with more than 3,000 years of history, a base for western development and one of three major education cities in China.

Many South Korean companies have presence in the city, and more are expected to do so in the future, Ju said. The city has also great potential for cooperation between the two countries as it can serve as a foothold for South Korean firms trying to expand to Central Asia and Europe, he said. (Yonhap News)