President Lee Jae Myung delivers an address during the opening ceremony of the CEO Summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum at the Gyeongju Arts Center in Gyeongju on Wednesday. (Yonhap)
President Lee Jae Myung delivers an address during the opening ceremony of the CEO Summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum at the Gyeongju Arts Center in Gyeongju on Wednesday. (Yonhap)

President Lee Jae Myung has said that South Korea needs China to play a "constructive" role in resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula as Chinese President Xi Jinping was set to arrive in South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering Thursday.

Lee made the remarks in a written interview with China's state-run Xinhua News Agency ahead of Xi's state visit — the first in 11 years — to attend the APEC summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province.

"South Korea urgently needs China's constructive role in order to achieve a substantive solution to the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and to build peace on the Korean Peninsula," Lee said in the English version of the interview.

Lee said he will work with China to strengthen "strategic communication" based on a shared understanding that peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula serve the "common interests" of both countries. He added he hopes to continue dialogue and cooperation with China to make progress for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Ahead of his scheduled summit with Xi on Saturday, Lee expressed hope to have in-depth discussions on practical cooperation, including expanding consultation channels for economic and trade dialogue and accelerating negotiations to broaden the scope of the bilateral free trade agreement to include services and investment.

South Korea seeks to stably manage its relations with China while also maintaining close alignment with the United States amid intensifying strategic rivalry between the world's two major powers.

"At present, China remains South Korea's largest trading partner and a core partner for ensuring the stability of the supply chain," he said, stressing the need to develop firm economic ties amid the global trade uncertainties.

He further called for advancing economic partnership based on "friendly competition and cooperation on an equal footing," and proposed exploring "new complementary models of cooperation" in the economic and trade sectors.

To further deepen bilateral ties, Lee underscored the importance of strengthening "mutual political trust" and maintaining "strategic communication" through reciprocal visits by the two countries' leaders.

Lee, who visited China three times between 2016 and 2019 during his tenure as mayor of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, said he hopes to visit China again soon for talks with Xi. (Yonhap)