Foreign minister Cho Tae-yul held his first phone call since taking office with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, to discuss bilateral relations and North Korea’s nuclear weapons. 

According to Seoul’s foreign ministry, Cho and Wang spoke for 50 minutes on Tuesday afternoon to discuss exchanges between high-level officials, cooperation in supply chains, and North Korean issues. 

The ministry said the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to the development of bilateral relations and agreed on the need to strengthen strategic exchanges and communication at various levels to ensure the future-oriented development of bilateral ties. 

The two sides agreed to work closely to ensure bilateral dialogue on security and other issues, and vice foreign ministers' talks can be held at an early date.

On North Korea, Cho expressed concerns over the North’s continued provocations, its nuclear and missile development, and growing military ties with Russia, and asked China to play a constructive role in convincing the North to take the path of denuclearization.

According to the Chinese foreign ministry, Wang said that China hopes the related parties can resolve their reasonable concerns through dialogue and negotiation, while maintaining cool-headedness and self-control.