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| President Moon Jae-in wears traditional attire in his taped Lunar New Year greeting. / Yonhap |
President Moon Jae-in staged a charm offensive to Chinese people by sending them his Lunar New Year greetings.
It was broadcast on China's state-run CCTV Thursday morning.
Moon started with a seasonal greeting in Chinese and said he conveyed warm New Year greetings from the Korean people.
Moon used the Chinese word for money given to children for the start of the New Year, wishing them a good new start.
He explained Korea's similar tradition.
He introduced the ongoing PyeongChang Olympics, saying he believed the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics would be a success.
It is rare, if not unprecedented, that a Korean leader has directly conveyed seasonal greetings to China.
Moon made a state visit to China in December.
China is Korea's biggest trading partner and as the only benefactor to North Korea could exert great influence on Pyongyang to separate it from nuclear weapons and missiles.
He also offered his greetings to Koreans as well.
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