A senior South Korean foreign ministry official said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi briefed the South Korean side on recent exchanges between China and North Korea, including North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s visit to China last month, during talks between the two countries’ foreign ministers in Beijing.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the official told reporters at the South Korean embassy in China on Saturday (14 November) that the Chinese side said relations between China and North Korea focused mainly on economic cooperation.
The official said the Chinese side raised the possibility of a meeting between the North Korean and US leaders. After the talks, he felt such a meeting was unlikely.
During the talks, the South Korean side also said North Korea should not be recognised as a nuclear weapons state, nor should decisions be made that run counter to establishing a peace mechanism on the Korean peninsula. The Chinese side expressed understanding of the South Korean government’s position.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun held talks with Wang at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on 13 November.
