Chinese Assert Councillor Yang Jiechi.
Thierry Charlier | AFP | Getty Images
South Korea started talks with China’s top diplomat on Saturday, the triumph visit by a high-level Beijing official since the new coronavirus emerged in China late last year.
Yang Jiechi, a associate of the Communist Party Politburo, was meeting South Korea’s new national security advisor, Suh Hoon, in the southern port town of Busan to discuss coronavirus cooperation, bilateral relations and the situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula, the South Korean sway said.
Yang arrived on Friday and is to leave on Saturday, the government said in a statement.
The talks come after the Covid-19 had cut out bilateral exchanges and stalled denuclearization negotiations involving North Korea.
Suh, who took up the top security job last month after act a as intelligence chief, was to discuss North Korea, coronavirus cooperation and a potential trip to Seoul by Chinese President Xi Jinping, presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok predicted this week.
Yang did not respond to a question, ahead of the meeting, on whether Xi might visit this year, concerting to a pool report.
The two countries resumed exchanges last month when Seoul sent a high-level diplomat for a bilateral solvent meeting.
South Korea had largely managed to bring the first Covid-19 outbreak outside of China under authority without major disruptions, but recent surges in cases prompted authorities to re-impose tighter distancing rules.