Anchor: Foreign minister Cho Tae-yul met with his Chinese counterpart on Monday as the two nations seek to ease strained relations. In the first official visit to Beijing by a South Korean foreign minister in six years, the two envoys agreed to work together for the successful holding of a trilateral summit with Japan, expected to take place in Seoul in late May. 
Lee Bo-kyung has more. 

Report: The top diplomats of South Korea and China have agreed to continue cooperation to ensure the successful hosting of a trilateral summit with Japan. 

Foreign minister Cho Tae-yul and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi made the agreement on Monday during their talks at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. 

According to Seoul's foreign ministry on Monday, the two sides discussed aspects of bilateral relations such as high-level exchanges and economic cooperation, as well as North Korea’s nuclear weapons and other North Korea issues, and regional and global affairs. 

Cho stressed the need for the two nations to work together to develop bilateral ties, saying that they should continue to cooperate while carefully managing any differences to prevent any issues from escalating into conflict.  

Emphasizing the need to strengthen strategic bilateral exchanges and communication at various levels, Cho invited Wang to visit South Korea, to which the Chinese top diplomat responded that he would make the visit at a mutually convenient time. 

Minister Cho also expressed concern about North Korea's provocations and urged China to play a constructive role in working toward peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and North Korea's denuclearization.

He also conveyed domestic and international concerns about China’s forcible repatriation of North Korean defectors and called for China's cooperation to enable North Korean defectors to choose where they go.

In response, the Chinese foreign minister said China’s policy on the peninsula remains unchanged, adding China will play a constructive role in the resolution of peninsula issues.
Lee Bo-kyung, KBS World Radio News.