ROK military leader visits China
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E-mail China Daily, June 5, 2013
Jung Seung-jo, chairman of the Republic of Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Beijing on Tuesday — the first such visit by an ROK military chief in six years — after Monday's meeting between foreign affairs officials from the two countries.
Observers said the series of visits by ROK officials to China is to enhance their comprehensive ties and to pave way for ROK President Park Geun-hye's visit at the end of June.
Jung led a 15-member delegation to Beijing. He talked to Fang Fenghui, chief of general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, about ways to strengthen military ties, China's Ministry of National Defense said.
China and the ROK agreed during Jung's visit to establish a mechanism for routine communications between high-level military officials, ROK's Yonhap News Agency reported.
Yonhap said Beijing and Seoul decided to establish more channels of communication and joint international relief efforts. The countries will maintain communication in an effort to decide whether to upgrade their existing hotline or create a new one.
The agreement is in line with Park's China policy of further enhancing the strategic partnership between the two countries to strengthen Beijing-Seoul military ties, said Wang Junsheng, a researcher on East Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Military ties between China and the ROK are not as strong as economic and political relations, said Shi Yuanhua, director of the Center for Korean Studies under the Institute of International Studies of Fudan University in Shanghai.
He said the agreement is an improvement of ties.
"The ROK wants to find a balance between the ties with China and with the United States, so it hopes to improve military ties," Shi said.
With deeper military ties, China and the ROK can also cooperate more when dealing with the situations on the Korean Peninsula, especially when there is tension, Wang said.
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