Anti-Japan war anniversary makes 2015 very meaningful, Park says

South Korean President Park Geun-hye said on Friday that the year 2015 is very meaningful for both her country and China since it marks the 70 anniversary of their separate victory over Japanese aggression.[Special coverage]

The year 2015 will be very meaningful for South Korea and China, as well as other Asian countries, since it marks the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Anti-Fascist War and of the liberation of the Korean Peninsula from the Japanese colonial rule, Park said at a meeting with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Noting that South Korea and China had similar sufferings in history, Park called for joint study on relevant issues.

It was the second meeting between the two leaders after Xi arrived in Seoul on Thursday for his first trip to South Korea as president.

Xi said he and Park had a candid discussion Thursday on issues of common concern, reached wide consensus on enriching and deepening bilateral strategic cooperative partnership, worked out many far-sighted cooperation plans and nailed down the general direction of the future development of bilateral ties.

"Both of us held that advancing bilateral ties to a higher level is of strategic significance for each other," Xi said, adding he is more confident about China-South Korea relations.

The close historical and cultural ties between the two neighboring countries are the solid foundation for the further development of bilateral relations, Xi said, urging the two countries to strengthen communication and mutual learning.

Xi said he learned from his visit that the China-South Korea friendship has already been deeply rooted in the hearts of the two peoples and the two peoples have full enthusiasm and high expectation on China-South Korea relations, all of which make him more confident about the future of bilateral ties.

Park said a series of important consensus was made during her talks with Xi on Thursday and hailed Xi's visit as a success, voicing confidence that bilateral ties will be constantly deepened in all fields.