Anchor: The South Korean government was busy on this Wednesday, ensuring both Washington and Beijing are on the same page when it comes to North Korea's denuclearization. President Moon Jae-in held telephone talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping while the outgoing and incoming top diplomats from Seoul and Washington held their first phone talks on the matter as well.
Kim Bum-soo has wrapped up the latest.  

Report: Seoul's presidential office says Chinese President Xi Jinping has confirmed the denuclearization of North Korea also serves China's national interest. He also expressed his active support for President Moon Jae-in's peace initiative. 

A key South Korean presidential official on Wednesday discussed the phone talks between President Moon Jae-in and President Xi Jinping the previous evening, their first in eight months.

During the 40-minute talks, President Moon said he hopes the two sides will also work together to realize a trilateral summit with Japan. Xi is said to have indicated his support to that aim. 

Xi also expressed hope to visit Seoul as soon as circumstances allow.  

The exchange comes as nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang have been stalled for nearly two years since the collapse of the Hanoi summit in 2019. 

The Moon administration now hopes U.S. President Joe Biden will build upon the vague denuclearization agreement his predecessor signed with the North Korean leader in 2018. 

Hours after Antony Blinken was sworn in as the U.S. Secretary of State Tuesday, the outgoing South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha held telephone talks with him for half an hour. The U.S. top diplomat is said to have agreed on the urgency of the North Korean nuclear issue.

In a bid to revive any remaining momentum for nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, Seoul previously had suggested the two sides declare an official end to the 1950 Korean War and find a breakthrough to the stalemate.  

A U.S. congressional think tank said in a recent report that if talks restart under President Biden, U.S. negotiators could face the question of whether to aim for an incremental dismantlement in step with gradual sanctions relief, or to try for a "big deal" and demand that the complete denuclearization precede full sanctions relief. 
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.