The South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said on Wednesday that he had asked his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to play a mediating role in order to revive dialogue between Seoul and North Korea.
Speaking to South Korean media during a state visit to ChinaLee indicated that significant progress had been made in restoring trust with Beijing. He specified that he had briefed Xi on Seoul's thus far unsuccessful efforts to improve its relations with Pyongyang.
According to Lee, the Chinese leader acknowledged these steps while stressing the need for patience on the North Korean issue, given the country's nuclear weapons. "President Xi recognized our efforts and emphasized the importance of patience," the South Korean head of state said.
This meeting, the second between the two leaders in less than three months, is part of Seoul's stated desire to open a "new phase" in its relations with Beijing after several years of diplomatic tensions.
Relations between South Korea and China had been strained since 2017, when Beijing restricted access to South Korean cultural content in its market, in response to Seoul's deployment of an American anti-missile defense system on its territory.
Lee also discussed with Xi the complexity of diplomatic relations, based on the balance of each country's national interests. He expressed hope that recent tensions between China and Japan that tensions may be eased, recalling that Seoul considers its relations with Tokyo to be as important as those with Beijing.
