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Oct. 6, 2008: The Korea Food and Drug Administration says it has found harmful chemicals including melamine in 10 Chinese dairy products. Oct. 7, 2008: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang says China supports continued U.S.-DPRK contact for pushing forward the Six-Party Talks. Oct. 7, 2008: A Chinese captain and crewmen illegally fishing in South Korean waters off the west coast assault South Korean Coast Guard officers. Oct. 13, 2008: South Korean lawmaker Choi Kyung-hwan says in a parliamentary report that 63.6 percent of the 644.5 billion won worth of illegal food imports over the past five years has come from China. Oct. 14, 2008: The 4th annual meeting of the China-DPRK Economic, Trade and Scientific and Technological Cooperation Committee is held in Pyongyang. Oct. 14, 2008: China denies South Korean claims that Chinese and North Korean hackers stole more than 130,000 pieces of ROK government information in the past four years. Oct. 15, 2008: South Korea’s Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries finds two cases of melamine-contaminated Chinese feed additives while health authorities announce plans to check all kidney beans from China for excess pesticides. Oct. 22, 2008: South Korea’s Agriculture Ministry says it found melamine in five egg-based imports from China. Oct. 23-25, 2008: President Lee Myung-bak visits Beijing for the 7th Asia-Europe Meeting. Oct. 24, 2008: Chinese Minister of Finance Xie Xuren and ROK Minister of Strategy and Finance Kang Man-Soo meet in Beijing. Oct. 25, 2008: In commemoration of the entry of the Chinese volunteers into the Korean War, Chinese People’s Liberation Army art troupe performs a modern dance drama on China’s civil revolutionary war at the East Pyongyang Grand Theater and meets legislator Kim Yong Nam. Oct. 26-30, 2008: Former ROK President Kim Dae-jung visits northeast China and delivers a speech at a conference hosted by the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs and the Liaoning provincial government. Oct. 29, 2008: China’s Ministry of Water Resources and DPRK counterpart in a meeting in Pyongyang agree to enhance cooperation on water resources management. China-Korea Relations 108 January 2009 Oct. 29, 2008: The Korea Food and Drug Administration finds melamine in a Chinese jelly product used to make locally sold sweets. Nov. 2, 2008: The second Tripartite Health Ministers Meeting is held in Beijing where China, South Korea, and Japan sign an action plan to fight pandemic influenza. China and Korea agree to strengthen bilateral cooperation on food safety. Nov. 4, 2008: ROK Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance Kim Dong-soo says South Korea and China have agreed in principle to expand their currency swap deal. Nov. 7, 2008: U.S. officials say the Chinese government has largely rebuffed U.S. attempts to discuss North Korea contingency planning. Nov. 7, 2008: South Korea’s second largest tire maker Kumho Tire Co. begins production at its new $100 million plant in Nanjing. Nov. 7, 2008: South Korean quarantine authorities detect a banned antibiotic in cooked duck meat from China. Nov. 14, 2008: Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei meets Ri Gun, director general of the DPRK Foreign Ministry’s American Affairs Bureau, in Beijing ahead of the Six-Party Talks. Nov. 20, 2008: The 55th anniversary of the DPRK-China Cooperation Accord on Economy and Culture is held in Pyongyang. Nov. 24, 2008: China and South Korea open naval and air military hotlines after a bilateral defense policy meeting in Beijing. Nov. 25, 2008: North Korean media reports Kim Jong-il’s visit to factories in Sinuiju city bordering China. Dec. 8, 2008: Wuhan, the capital of central China’s Hubei province, announces that South Korea will open a Consulate in the city. Dec. 8-11, 2008: A new round of Six-Party Talks is held in Beijing. Dec. 10, 2008: Korean, Chinese, and Japanese Central Banks launch the Tripartite Governors’ Meeting to be regularized next year to promote regional financial stability. Dec. 10, 2008: The ROK Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries strengthens quarantine inspections at airports and harbors in response to bird flu outbreaks in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Dec. 11-12, 2008: Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Guangya and South Korean counterpart Kwon Jong-rak hold the first China-ROK strategic dialogue in Beijing. China-Korea Relations 109 January 2009 China-Korea Relations 110 January 2009 Dec. 12, 2008: The Bank of Korea finalizes a $26 billion won-yuan swap agreement with the People’s Bank of China. Dec. 12, 2008: Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie meets Yon Kyong Chol, DPRK deputy director general of the Military Foreign Affairs Division of the Ministry of People’s Armed Forces, in Beijing. Dec. 12, 2008: Incheon District Court sentences to jail the captain and crewmen of a Chinese fishing boat for assaulting Korean Coast Guard officers on Oct. 7. Dec. 13, 2008: President Lee, Premier Wen, and Prime Minister Aso Taro hold the inaugural Korea-China-Japan summit in Dazaifu, Fukuoka, Japan. Dec. 16, 2008: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao suggests that China will continue energy aid to North Korea despite the stalled Six-Party Talks. Dec. 16, 2008: Ssangyong Motor Co., the South Korean unit of Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., says it has halted operations at all its plants for 10 working days. Dec. 18, 2008: Defense Minister Liang Guanglie meets Korea National Defense University President Bang Hyo Bok in Beijing. Dec. 19, 2008: South Korea establishes melamine content standards for food in response to the Chinese food safety scare. Dec. 21-25, 2008: South Korean Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong meets Chinese top leaders in Beijing to discuss North Korea’s nuclear program and inter-Korean relations. Dec. 23, 2008: Ssangyong chief executive warns that its Chinese partner will pull out if its labor union resists a restructuring plan. Dec. 24-26, 2008: The second China-Korea-Japan Cultural Ministerial Meeting is held on Jeju Island, Korea. Chinese Culture Minister Cai Wu and Korean counterpart Yu In-chon agree to strengthen Sino-Korean cooperation in the online gaming industry. Dec. 24, 2008: Myanmar signs a deal with South Korea’s Daewoo and Korea Gas Corporation and Indian energy firms to supply gas to China National United Oil Corporation. Dec. 26, 2008: The Korea Food and Drug Administration reveals that South Korea sold 1,356 tons of melamine-tainted Chinese snacks in 2008. Dec. 29, 2008: Ssangyong Motor Company and SAIC Motor Corporation announce that they are seeking financial assistance from the ROK government and banks. Dec. 30, 2008: Ssangyong’s labor union warns it will sue SAIC for illegal technology transfer and carry out a full-fledged strike if SAIC fails to further investment