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| Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho, left, and China's Assistant Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang leave before holding their annual talks on economic cooperation at the Seoul Government Complex, Wednesday. Yonhap |
By Park Ji-won
South Korea and China didn't discuss issues related to a possible ban on Huawei products during ministerial-level talks, Wednesday.
The two countries' diplomats led by Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho and China's Assistant Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang held the 23rd Joint Economic Committee session where they talked about ways to boost economic cooperation on personnel and cultural exchanges.
"I hope our bilateral cooperation will lead to another level, by strengthening personnel, cultural and environmental exchanges," Lee said at the start of the session, according to pool reports.
"These talks will be linked to the detailed discussions on the two countries' long-term economic development, which has been dealt with in working-level talks so far."
Details of what was discussed during the session is as yet unknown. But a ministry official said on Tuesday that the Huawei issue would not be on the agenda. Huawei has become entangled in the deepening trade friction between China and the United States.
In May, Washington blacklisted Huawei, barring U.S. companies from doing business with it. China has summoned major tech firms including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to warn them that they could face heavy business setbacks in China if they cooperate with Trump's anti-Huawei campaign. U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris "unofficially" pressurized South Korean companies not to sell Huawei's advanced fifth-generation (5G) technology. The foreign ministry launched a special taskforce to monitor the Washington-led anti-Huawei campaign and study the possible impact on South Korean tech companies.
"Due to the situation, many had paid attention to whether or not the Huawei issue would be brought up during the talks," an official said.
The highly articulated low-key approach by South Korea is intended to tackle the aftermath of China's retaliation on the trade and tourism industry with the country in 2017 following Seoul's decision to deploy a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Aerial Defense anti-missile system, despite Beijing's opposition. The last committee session was held in Beijing in April last year. The two countries didn't hold the annual meeting in 2017 due to Beijing's retaliatory measures.
Li agreed on the need for "the China-Korea trade to further advance to a new level," according to Yonhap, assessing that "mutual efforts in various areas, such as trade and investment, have brought big achievements."
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