Bolster ties based on mutual trust

At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, the Republic of Korea President Park Geun-hye will visit China from Thursday to Sunday. The visit to China will be Park's second overseas trip since she took office in February; her first was to the United States. This breaks the order established by her predecessors who all visited the US first, followed by Japan, China and Russia.

Park is visiting China ahead of Japan, as it is more of a priority in the ROK's foreign policy for a number of reasons.

First, China is playing an ever more important role in resolving the Democratic People's Republic of Korea' nuclear issue.

Second, economic cooperation between China and the ROK is expanding to deeper and broader levels.

Third, although Japan is also a member of the Six-Party Talks aimed at the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the behavior of its right-wing politicians and their attitude toward history has cast a shadow over Japan-ROK relations.

Fourth, Park personally has amicable feelings toward China.

Her visit to China, her fifth visit in an official capacity, will be further enriched by her personal interest in Chinese culture and her goodwill toward China.

The visit is sure to attract global attention given the tensions resulting from the DPRK's recent nuclear test. Park firmly advocates that denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is the important premise for peace and stability in Northeast Asia. During her trip, Park will seek to put forward her proposal for a trust-building process on the Korean Peninsula to the Chinese government, and to discuss plans for a China-ROK mutual-help system in resolving the DPRK issue.

China has always adhered to cooperation rather than confrontation, and President Xi Jinping reaffirmed China's stance on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula during his recent summit meeting with US President Barack Obama.