BEIJING (Reuters) - China is willing to work with South Korea to promote a strategic partnership to develop with the times, President Xi Jinping told South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Saturday, amid rising tensions surrounding Russia, the United States and North Korea.
The commitment to cooperation came ahead of scheduled trilateral talks between China, Japan and South Korea in Seoul on Sept. 26, the first summit led by their senior officials in four years.
Xi told Han that he welcomes the summit at an opportune time and he will seriously consider the matter of visiting South Korea, Yonhap reported on Saturday.
China attaches great importance to the positive willingness of South Korea to commit to cooperation, Xi said, and asked South Korea to meet it half way to maintain the direction of friendly cooperation.
Tensions between the two East Asian countries rose after North Korea's Kim Jong Un's weeklong visit to Russia earlier this month, which angered the United States, Japan and South Korea.
Persons:
Xi Jinping, Han Duck, Xi, Han, Yonhap, Korea's Kim Jong, Albee Zhang, Ryan Woo, William Mallard, Mike Harrison
Organizations:
South Korean, Asian Games, China Central Television, South
Locations:
BEIJING, China, South Korea, Russia, United States, North Korea, Hangzhou, Japan, Seoul