ROK leader to attend ceremony

Seoul has announced that Republic of Korea President Park Geun-hye will come to Beijing next month to attend celebrations for the 70th anniversary of victory in World War II.

Chinese analysts said leaders of the two major victims of Japan's wartime atrocities will stand on the same stage to warn against historical revisionism and boost China-ROK ties.

Park will attend the event marking the 70th anniversary of victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the presidential office said on Thursday.

Ju Chul-ki, senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs, said Park will make a trip to China for three days from Sept 2 to attend the event on Sept 3 in Beijing.

Detailed schedules of the trip are still under discussion with Chinese counterparts, Ju said.

After Beijing, Park will go to Shanghai to attend a ceremony on Sept 4 to reopen the office of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, which was established in Shanghai in 1919. The office was set up by Korean independence fighters who fled to China after Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula in 1910.

Zhang Liangui, a Korean studies expert at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, observed that ruling and opposition parties in the ROK "have come to a rare consensus" over Park's China trip as they believe it will serve national interests.

"The announcement by the ROK is of great significance, since it will contribute a lot to China's diplomatic efforts in organizing the events. It's a very good decision," Zhang said.

China is the ROK's largest trade partner, foreign investment destination and source of international students.

The nations concluded the substantial part of their negotiations over the bilateral free trade agreement last year.

Wang Junsheng, a researcher on East Asian studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that as the FTA remains to be approved by legislation, Park's visit will be a greatly symbolic boost for finalizing the FTA.

Zhang said the trip will help balance Seoul's relationship with Beijing and with Washington, and will "serve as a big push to the China-ROK relationship".

Yang Yixi and Xinhua contributed to this story.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn