BEIJING, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- China's top political adviser said Monday he'd reach out to the South Korean government to discuss denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.
Yu Zhengsheng met Monday in Beijing with South Korean diplomats. The visit is part of an annual bilateral meeting. A delegation led by former South Korean Prime Minister Lee Soo-song arrives Tuesday in Beirut for further talks.
The political envoy said China will use the visit as an opportunity to work jointly with the government in Seoul to bring peace and stability to the Korean Peninsula, China's official Xinhua News Agency reports.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated in the aftermath of North Korea's nuclear test this spring.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye met in June with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing to review the security situation.
Xi said he was eager to bring North Korea back to multilateral nuclear negotiations with South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. Nuclear negotiations started in 2003 but have been suspended since 2008.
