Moon, Xi vow joint efforts in pushing for formal end to Korean War

South Korea and China will closely work together to push for a peace treaty with North Korea that would formally end the Korean War, the countries' leaders said Friday.

In a telephone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping, South Korean President Moon Jae-in also stressed the importance of China's role in ridding North Korea of its nuclear ambitions, Moon's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.

"President Moon stressed that President Xi's continued interest and support, as well as the Chinese government's active contribution, are important in completely denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and establishing permanent peace," it said in a press release.

The Moon-Xi conversation came one week after the South Korean president held a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the border village of Panmunjom inside the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas.

In a joint statement, called the Panmunjom Declaration, Moon and Kim agreed to push for complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War with a peace treaty.

The two Koreas technically remain at war as the Korean War ended only with an armistice.

Xi welcomed the inter-Korean agreement, promising his full support, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

"President Xi congratulated the successful outcome of the South-North Korea summit and the Panmunjom Declaration, and said President Moon's efforts to bring about a positive change to conditions surrounding the Korean Peninsula had been critical to such an outcome," it said.

The Chinese leader said Kim also reaffirmed his willingness to denuclearize while meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi earlier this week in Pyongyang.

"He said Chairman Kim again confirmed his willingness to shut down the North's Punggye-ri nuclear test site and end the history of hostility on the Korean Peninsula through a declaration of an end to the Korean War," Cheong Wa Dae said in a press release.

Moon and Xi "also agreed the two countries will closely communicate and actively cooperate in the process of replacing the Korean armistice with a peace treaty," it added. (Yonhap)