South Korea's new president Moon Jae-In spoke to the leaders of China and Japan Thursday, hours after a telephone call with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, officials said, as he began shaping his approach to the nuclear-armed North.
Moon also asked Xi to address the "restraints and restrictions" on South Korean companies doing business in China because they're experiencing "difficulties" over the deployment, according to Yoon.
The talks Thursday marked the first that have taken place between the two leaders since Moon was sworn in on Wednesday.
The call from Xi to congratulate Moon on his inauguration the day before was the first of its kind from a Chinese leader to his new South Korean counterpart, the statement said.
While South Korea, China and Japan all share worry about North Korea, ties between South Korea and China have been strained by South Korea's decision to install a US anti-missile system in defense against the North.
In a speech after he took the oath of office on Wednesday, Moon said he plans to eventually move out of the Blue House, which was seen as part of an attempt to be a more accessible leader.
Moon came to power with a promise to review the system and he told Xi that North Korea must cease making provocations before tension over the deployment could be resolved, officials said. He has said he would be prepared to go to Pyongyang "if the conditions are right".
Is the "Sturgeon Slump" real or a misreading of results?
The SNP has won Scotland's council elections, winning more councillors, more votes and more councils than any other party. The SNP had been hoping to topple Labour from the Glasgow stronghold where it has held power for more than three decades.
Moon accepted Trump's invitation to visit at an "early date".
Moon told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe most South Koreans rejected Tokyo's agreement to compensate victims of sexual slavery during the 1910-45 colonial era, implying he could scrap the contentious deal reached with Park's government at the end of 2015.
In a regular briefing on May 10, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang addressed Moon's remarks during his inaugural address stating his plans to "negotiate sincerely with the U.S. and China to resolve the THAAD issue".
Abe and Moon are likely to have discussed working together to address North Korea, which continues to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in defiance of United Nations resolutions.
The South's president has also several times expressed interest in meeting the North's ruler Kim Jong-un, and the reclusive state's ruling party newspaper said Thursday the two Koreas should "seek dialogue and negotiations at various levels". He had promised during his campaign to renegotiate it.
Xi also stressed in his May 10 telegram that 2017 marks the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Seoul and Beijing. "I would like to closely cooperate with the president to achieve the denuclearization of North Korea", Abe told Moon.
South Korean internet users have shared photos of new President Moon Jae-in waving off a presidential employee and taking off his own jacket at a luncheon, projecting an image that he's a down-to-earth president.
Comments