South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met in Washington on Friday for talks on North Korea’s nuclear program and other issues.

At a joint news conference at the State Department, Kim said both countries agreed that the recent talks in Beijing between the U.S. and North Korea were an important first step in solving the North Korean nuclear issue.

Kim also said that Seoul and Washington stressed that it is crucial for North Korea to faithfully implement the agreements it signed with the United States at the Beijing talks.

During two days of talks in the Chinese capital, North Korea agreed to suspend its uranium enrichment at the Yongbyon nuclear complex and allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor its nuclear activities.

The South Korean foreign minister said that the alliance between South Korea and the U.S. was more important than anything in resuming the six-party talks. He also said the two parties would continue their talks on several levels during the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit to be held in Seoul.

Clinton said Washington was watching North Korea’s moves very closely and will make judgments based on the actions of the North Korean leadership, calling the Beijing talks a “modest step in the right direction.”

Clinton said that there would be no improvement of relations between North Korea and the U.S. unless relations between the two Koreas made progress first. She also said three-party talks between the U.S., South Korea and Japan would be held soon.