Anchor: President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping have resolved to work together to resume dialogue with North Korea. During their second summit, which took place in Beijing on Monday, the two leaders agreed to seek creative options to end the stalemate and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula. Notably, though, their talks did not address the long-standing policy aim of denuclearizing North Korea.
Kim Bum-soo has more. 

Report: 

[Sound bite: Official welcoming ceremony on January 5 in Beijing]

After a grand welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the presidents of South Korea and China held their second summit in about two months.

While seeking China’s help in finding a breakthrough on North Korea issues, President Lee Jae Myung told Chinese President Xi Jinping that Monday’s summit was an opportunity to cement the newly restored ties between Seoul and Beijing.

[Sound bite: President Lee Jae Myung (Korean-English)]
“[At this meeting,] we will work together to explore feasible alternatives for achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula. We must ensure that both countries can contribute jointly to peace, which is the basic foundation for prosperity and growth. I hope this meeting will provide an opportunity to share ideas that we couldn’t fully discuss in Gyeongju and will serve as a crucial turning point in solidifying the historical trend of the full restoration of South Korea-China relations.”

Xi told Lee the two sides should make “correct strategic choices” and “shoulder important responsibilities in safeguarding regional peace.” 

[Sound bite: Chinese President Xi Jinping (Mandarin-English)]
“We share common interests and must stand on the right side of history, making correct strategic choices. The Chinese side should, together with the South Korean side, firmly uphold the direction of friendly cooperation and adhere to the principle of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, promoting the healthy development of the China-South Korea strategic cooperative partnership.”

Amid the intensifying rivalry between the U.S. and China, and in the wake of the recent spat over Taiwan between China and Japan, the two leaders sought practical ways to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula.  

After the meeting, which lasted an hour and a half, South Korean national security adviser Wi Sung‑lac told reporters the two sides saw eye to eye on the need to restart dialogue with Pyongyang.

Seoul and Beijing agreed to continue exploring creative approaches as China reiterated its willingness to play a constructive role in that regard, according to Wi.

But the two sides did not explicitly say the aim of dialogue with Pyongyang would be the denuclearization of North Korea, avoiding the phrase in their publicized remarks.

With that long-standing policy stance notably absent from the talks once again, it remains to be seen what kind of dialogue South Korea is seeking to arrange with the North.

In the last leg of this four-day state visit to China, the South Korean president arrived in Shanghai on Tuesday, where he will pay a call on the building that housed the Provisional Government of Korea during the Japanese colonial occupation of the country. 

Lee returns home on Wednesday.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.