Yoon asks for China's cooperation on N. Korean defector issue
President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, shakes hands with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, right, at the 8th Korea-Japan-China Business Summit at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul, May 27. On the left is Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Yonhap
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday asked Chinese Premier Li Qiang for Beijing's cooperation on the issue of North Korean defectors, the presidential office said.
Yoon made the request during one-on-one talks held on the sidelines of a trilateral summit also involving Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Seoul, according to presidential spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung.
Yoon further asked that China play a "constructive role" in maintaining the global nonproliferation regime as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, a reference to Beijing's role in reining in North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Li responded that China has worked for the peaceful resolution of the Korean Peninsula issue and considers political stability to also be important.
"We are well aware of South Korea's concerns, and let us continue to communicate in the future," he was quoted as saying by the presidential office. (Yonhap)