Chronologies
China - Korea
Chronology from Oct 2004 to Dec 2004
: China Cultural Center, originally suggested during former PRC Prime Minister Zhu Rongji’s visit to Seoul in 2000, opens in downtown Seoul. It is the fourth of its kind, following centers in France, Egypt, and Malta.
: Canadian government confirms that 44 North Korean refugees who entered the Canadian embassy compound Sept. 29 have safely left for a third country.
: South Korea agrees to give nine rice-exporting countries greater access to its market in exchange for a 10-year extension of current tariff waivers. Negotiations on opening of the South Korean rice market were conducted over many months with nine different rice exporting countries, including China and the U.S.
: Representatives of the national fishery associations meet in Beijing and sign a plea for members to refrain from resorting to violence in fishing and marine emergencies.
: ROK Foreign Ministry officials criticize PRC decision to issue commemorative postage stamps featuring historic relics from the Goguryeo dynasty.
: LG Phillips LCD Co., the second-largest producer of liquid crystal displays, announces plans to invest $5.1 billion to build the world’s largest plant for flat panel televisions in China.
: Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd., China’s largest online game service provider, acquires 28.95 percent of Korean software developer Actoz Soft Co. for $91.7 million.
: PRC Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, South Korean President Roh, and Japan’s Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro, meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Plus Three meeting in Vientiane, Laos, release a joint action strategy for trilateral coordination to promote stability and development in Northeast Asia.
: PRC Minister of Education Zhou Ji and PRC Ambassador to the ROK Li Bin attend a ceremony for the opening of the Confucius Institute in Seoul, the first overseas PRC government-sponsored Chinese language school. State Councilor Chen Zhili met ROK Prime Minister Lee Hai-chan to discuss bilateral educational exchanges.
: ROK President Roh Moo-hyun meets with PRC President Hu Jintao at the APEC meeting in Santiago to discuss ways to reconvene the Six-Party Talks as quickly as possible.
: Vice President of the Presidium of the DPRK Yang Hyong Sop meets with a delegation led by PRC Vice President of the China Association for International Friendly Contact Xing Yunming in Pyongyang.
: LG Chem Company announces that it has set up a plant in Guangzhou to manufacture petrochemicals for industrial products, such as auto and electronic components.
: NCsoft Corporation, the world’s largest online game company, offers commercial release of its popular online game Lineage II in the PRC.
: ROK Ministry of Construction and Transportation assigns new Taiwan flight routes to Korean Air and Asiana to resume regular flights to Taipei that had been suspended since the ROK’s diplomatic recognition of the PRC in 1992.
: Reports circulate that the PRC has forcefully repatriated over 70 North Koreans captured while planning a forced entry into diplomatic compounds in Beijing.
: PRC Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei meet Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Yong-Il of the DPRK to discuss cooperation between the two neighbors, the Six-Party Talks, and the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.
: PRC Vice Minister of Commerce Zhang Zhigang announces that his ministry has proposed the joint publication of a white paper on logistics development with South Korea and Japan. The paper is designed to smooth commodity flows in Northeast Asia.
: The Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade warns that Korean automotive parts makers will face stiffer competition with Chinese counterparts as Chinese companies pursue export-oriented strategies.
: Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation signs a final deal with creditors of Ssangyong Motors to take over the operation, spending about $500 million to acquire a controlling 48.9 percent stake in the company.
: PRC police raid a North Korean refugee shelter in Beijing and take into custody over 65 defectors believed to be planning a forced entry into a diplomatic compound or international school in Beijing.
: Goguryeo Research Foundation meets to discuss China’s motives in pressing its claims to the historical origins of Goguryeo Kingdom.
: Some 18 North Korean refugees attempt to enter the ROK consulate in Beijing. Only three can take shelter inside, the others are arrested by Chinese security police or flee.
: China Daily reports the visit to the DPRK of a delegation from the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army to hold memorial activities, set up a China-DPRK education effort, promote China-DPRK commercial connections, and establish long-term communication channels for veterans between the two nations.
: POSCO announces that it has begun production at the POSCO Suzhou Automotive Processing Center Company in Jiangsu Province. The factory is the largest in China with an annual production capacity of 200,000 metric tons.
: DPRK Prime Minister Kim Yong-nam meets with Chinese leaders in Beijing and Tianjin to discuss ways to expand China-DPRK cooperation and friendship.
: Kyodo News Agency reports, the PRC has confirmed to other parties in the Six-Party Talks its assessment that the DPRK has a uranium enrichment program.