South Korea and China marked the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties on Wednesday, holding separate celebratory events in their respective capitals.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries could not hold a joint celebration, but they ran the events simultaneously, with their respective foreign ministers taking part as principal guests in the events, according to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry.

During the events, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, read out loud the letters their respective presidents sent to each other to celebrate the 30th anniversary.

In the letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol assessed that bilateral partnership has rapidly grown in the past 30 years, and raised hopes to explore new ways of cooperation for the next 30 years of their relationship, based on the spirit of mutual respect and benefits, according to Korea’s presidential office.

In that process, Yoon wished for the two sides come up with tangible achievements in the fields of economic security, environment and climate change, and also asked for China’s constructive role in denuclearization talks with North Korea.

In his letter to Yoon, Xi assessed how the two countries have maintained friendly exchanges for a long time as neighbors, and that they were able to develop relations in all fields, cooperating for mutual benefits and maintaining the values of openness and tolerance, according to Seoul’s presidential office.

Noting that it is important for the international society, including China and South Korea to unite in this time of great transformation and the pandemic, Xi vowed to strengthen strategic communication with Yoon and expressed hope to further strengthen ties with Korea.

“China is a very important country for us (South Korea), in many fields, economy, trade, politics, security and cultural cooperation and personnel exchanges,” Park said in his celebratory remarks in Seoul.

Underscoring the importance of upgrading the quality of their exchanges, Park said the countries should expand strategic communications, while urging China to play a “constructive role” in their joint efforts for denuclearization of North Korea.

The Seoul event was held at the Four Seasons Hotel, while the Beijing event took place at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse -- the venue where representatives of South Korea and China held the signing ceremony to establish diplomatic relations on Aug. 24, 1992.

South Korea’s presidential office also said it would make efforts to bolster bilateral cooperation with China, based on the principle of mutual respect and benefits.

“As Korea-China relations has achieved growth in the past 30 years, we believe we should develop the relations further into a mature and stable partnership in the next 30 years,” Kim Eun-hye, presidential senior secretary for public relations said Wednesday.

In addition to the leaders’ letters, Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and China’s Premier Li Keqiang also exchanged celebratory remarks.

Before the main celebratory event, the two sides also presented a final joint report created by the Committee for Future-Oriented Development of Korea-China Relations that was launched last year.

The event was also held in separate venues in Seoul and Beijing, but was virtually connected to be carried out at the same time.

The joint committee was created to draw up and suggest a road map on the direction for developing relations between the neighboring countries.

In the event, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also noted how the bilateral relations of China and South Korea achieved rapid growth over the 30 years of diplomatic relations, and contributed to the region’s stability and prosperity.

As strategic partners, the two countries should continue to deepen mutual trust and strengthen cooperation to move forward, Wang also said.

On Tuesday, Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming said that while bilateral relations between Seoul and Beijing may not be at a peak, they can work to develop a “mature, independent and stable relationship” and preserve the two countries’ core interests.

“The current situation is complex and serious. Relations between China and South Korea have entered a new phase,” Xing said at a forum on Tuesday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Korea-China relations in Seoul.

While admitting that mutual affinity between the two countries is in decline, Xing said the situation would be “temporary” and that there is no conflict which cannot be solved.

“There is no structural contradiction between China and Korea. ... It is necessary to develop a mature, independent and stable relationship while maintaining the core interests between the two countries,” he said.

By Jo He-rim  (herim@heraldcorp.com)