South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byun-se had phone talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, primarily on North Korea, Yun's ministry said Wednesday.

The conversation, arranged at Wang's request, began at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and lasted about one hour, said the ministry.

It was their first talks since North Korea executed Jang Song-thaek, the once-influential uncle of leader Kim Jong-un, in early December.

Yun and Wang compared their assessment of the political situation in the secretive communist nation and discussed ways to prevent any crisis on the peninsula, according to ministry officials.

The two also expressed satisfaction over improving relations between Seoul and Beijing, especially in the wake of President Park Geun-hye's trip to China in June, they said.

Yun and Wang met in New York in September on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

Meanwhile, the South Korean minister plans to visit Washington early this month for a bilateral meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry.

Yun's ministry did not release his exact itinerary, while the State Department has not made any announcement yet on that. (Yonhap News)