South Korea’s top policymaker on North Korea cautioned Monday against exaggerating China’s role in inter-Korean affairs, saying the two Koreas are the “principal players” in their dealings with each other.

Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik, who served as Seoul’s ambassador to Beijing before taking office in September, acknowledged that China has considerable influence over inter-Korean relations, but urged Koreans to take matters into their own hands.

As North Korea’s last remaining major ally, China continues to provide much-needed aid and diplomatic support to the reclusive nation. Beijing claims to seek stability in the region by maintaining close ties with Pyongyang, and in 2010, it refused to condemn the North for its military attacks against the South.

“The principal players in South-North relations are the South and the North,” Yu said at the start of a forum on China.

“Under that premise, (we) need to think about what we can demand from China and what we are going to do in order to fulfill (those demands).”

The minister stressed that South Korea’s future relationship with an increasingly powerful China will depend to a large extent on how Koreans wish to view the neighboring nation.

“Just as we should not underestimate China, overestimating it is equally unhelpful,” he said. “We should view and understand China as it is and try to lead our relationship in the direction we choose.”

Yu’s remarks came shortly after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak arrived in Beijing for a three-day state visit, which will include summit talks with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao. (Yonhap News)