South Korea on Thursday welcomed the recent summit between the leaders of China and North Korea, calling it a significant development that will help denuclearize the North and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.
"We welcome the summit between Kim Jong-un, chairman of North Korea's state affairs commission, and Chinese President Xi Jinping," Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman for the South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, said in a statement.
The remarks came one day after China and North Korea confirmed the North Korean leader's trip to Beijing for talks with the Chinese leader. The Kim-Xi summit was held on Monday.
(Yonhap)
"It is very meaningful that Chairman Kim Jong-un clearly expressed his willingness to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and hold a South-North Korea summit and North Korea-US summit at the North-China summit," the Cheong Wa Dae spokesman said.
The spokesman noted that the China-North Korea summit also indicates China's participation in efforts to rid the North of its nuclear ambitions.
"We believe China's participation in dialogue for peace on the Korean Peninsula, realized by the recent summit, will help stabilize conditions on the Korean Peninsula," he added.
The summit between North Korea and China, two communist allies, came before the North Korean leader's scheduled meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, which is set to be followed by talks with US President Donald Trump.
High-level officials from the two Koreas are holding a meeting in the joint security area of Panmunjom on Thursday to set the exact date for what will be a third inter-Korean summit, currently scheduled to be held in late April.
A Chinese state councilor, Yang Jiechi, is also set to visit Seoul on Thursday to brief South Korean officials on the outcome of the China-North Korea summit.
"We hope a clear foundation for permanent denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of a peace regime will emerge in the upcoming South-North Korea summit and the North-US summit," the Cheong Wa Dae spokesman said. (Yonhap)
