The Foreign Ministry has reportedly expressed regret over a remark made by a senior South Korean politician in a telephone call to Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Zhang Xinsen.

South Korean main opposition Democratic Party (DP) floor leader Park Ji-won claimed that China’s Vice President Xi Jinping said the Lee Myung-bak administration has been an obstacle to peace on the Korean Peninsula. According to Park, Xi made that remark in a meeting with former president Kim Dae-jung in 2009. The presidential office says Xi made no such remark.

The ministry expressed its regret about the situation to Zhang and asked him to deliver the message to Beijing, to which Zhang reportedly agreed.