On August 26, 2008, President Hu Jintao of China met with ROK Prime Minister Han Seung-so in Seoul.

Bilateral ties have achieved rapid progress since the two nations established diplomatic ties 16 years ago, Hu said at the meeting, expressing delight with the achievements in the development of bilateral ties.

Hu proposed that in the current and next period, the two governments should advance bilateral ties mainly in the following four aspects. First, strengthen communication in the political area and build up mutual understanding and trust. The two governments could make full use of their communication and cooperation mechanisms -- especially the bilateral strategic dialogue mechanism at the foreign-ministry level to be launched in the near future -- to further play their coordinating, planning and guiding role, President Hu suggested. Second, deepen cooperation in the economic and trade field to achieve mutual benefits and win-win results. Hu expressed hope that both sides will enhance mutually beneficial cooperation in such key areas as communications, finance, logistics and environmental protection and strengthen collaboration on hosting the World Expo. Third, expand exchanges in the humanities field and increase friendly sentiments between the two peoples. Hu hoped that the two neighbors would expand people-to-people communications in view of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo and the 2012 Yeosu World Expo, successfully host the 2010 'Visit China Year' and 2012 'Visit Korea Year' and well hold youth exchange activities between the two countries. Fourth, enhance bilateral coordination in regional and international issues to secure the common interests of both China and the ROK. The Chinese leader expressed hope that the two nations would continue to push forward the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, maintain peace and stability on the Peninsula and Northeast Asia and strengthen coordination in regional cooperation and major international and regional issues.

Echoing Hu's proposals on bilateral ties, Prime Minister Han said the exchange of high-level visits is vital to the development of ROK-China ties. He expressed hope that both sides will maintain this momentum. He said the two countries should work together to expand economic cooperation to counter the global economic depression. The ROK-China cultural exchanges enjoy a time-honored history and the two nations should boost people-to-people communication for better mutual understanding, Han added. He hailed China's leading role in maintaining peace and stability in Northeast Asia and in pushing forward the six-party talks, and expressed hope to further cooperate with China on regional and international issues including the UN affairs.

Han congratulated the Chinese president over the successful hosting of the recently concluded Beijing Olympics and wished the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games every success. Hu expressed gratitude for his remarks.

Ling Jihua, Wang Huning and Dai Bingguo attended the above activities.