By Kang Seung-woo
Military chiefs from South Korea and China agreed Tuesday to strengthen their strategic partnership, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced.
Gen. Jung Seung-jo, chairman of the JCS, visited China for military talks with his Chinese counterpart Gen. Fang Fenghui and discussed issues concerning deepening military ties between two countries.
In addition, they also conferred on ways to lower tensions on the Korean Peninsula in the knowledge of Pyongyang’s advancing nuclear weapons and missile programs.
The JCS said that both countries expect the military talks to contribute to their military relations and they have agreed to hold the next military talks in Seoul next year.
Jung’s visit to China is the first by the Korean JCS chairman since 2007 and it also marked the first time that the military leader and his 14-man delegation traveled on a C-130 military transport plane for an official visit to China, which Seoul officials see as evidence of close relations between the militaries of the two nations.
The two sides discussed ways to expand military communication channels, including a hotline between military chiefs and the establishment of a formal channel between working-level officials, according to the JCS.
In addition, they had talks about expanding nontraditional military activities, such as peacekeeping, disaster relief and anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden to boost cooperation.
The JCS’s trip comes after North Korea’s top envoy visited China last month to deliver leader Kim Jong-un’s letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
After ratcheting up tensions for the past few months, the North has reduced its saber-rattling in recent days and dispatched Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, who offered hints that it is interested in rejoining the stalled six-party talks.
On Wednesday, Jung is scheduled to meet Fan Changlong, vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission who met with Choe, and after the meeting, the Korean delegation will fly to Qingdao to visit China's northern command headquarters, the home port of China's first aircraft carrier Liaoning, according to the JCS.
Later this month, President Park Geun-hye and her Chinese counterpart Xi will hold a summit meeting in China.