South Korea's Lee asks China's Xi for help engaging North Korea

Chinese President Xi Jinping told South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Saturday that he was ready to deepen cooperation and work together to address shared challenges, while Lee appealed for Beijing’s support in efforts to revive dialogue with nuclear-armed North Korea.

Xi was hosted by Lee at a state summit and dinner following an Asia-Pacific leaders’ forum in the South Korean city of Gyeongju — his first visit to the U.S. ally in eleven years.

According to a statement from Lee’s office, Xi said that Beijing attached great importance to its relationship with Seoul and viewed South Korea as an indispensable cooperative partner.

Lee, elected in a snap election in June, has pledged to bolster relations with the United States without antagonising China, while also seeking to ease tensions with Pyongyang.

“I view positively the current situation, where conditions for engagement with North Korea are beginning to take shape,” Lee said, referring to recent high-level exchanges between China and North Korea.

“I also hope that South Korea and China can use this favourable moment to enhance strategic communication and restart dialogue with the North.”

Lee has proposed a gradual approach to denuclearising North Korea, beginning with engagement and a freeze on further nuclear weapons development.

However, in a statement on Saturday, Pyongyang — a close military and economic partner of China — dismissed the prospect of denuclearisation as an unattainable “pipe dream.”

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