SEOUL: South Korea on Wednesday welcomed the outcome of the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping, expressing hope that China would continue to play a positive role in ensuring "safe and complete" denuclearisation of the North.
Briefing media here, the spokesman of South Korean presidential office (Cheong Wa Dae), Kim Eui-kyeom said, "The latest North Korea-China summit is believed to have moved the denuclearisation process a step further. In addition, we expect China to play a positive role in safely completing the denuclearisation process," Yonhap News Agency reported.
The comments came after Kim visited China on Tuesday for the third time in as many months and held talks with Xi on the outcome of the meeting between the North Korean leader and US President Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12.
Kim and Xi earlier met in the Chinese port city of Dalian for a summit on May 8. The North Korean leader made his first foreign trip to China in March to meet Xi in Beijing, as per the report.
According to China, Kim is expected to leave Beijing later on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, North Korea's official news outlet, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a statement that Xi praised and congratulated Kim on the outcome of the US-North Korea summit.
"Xi Jinping gave high appreciation and extended heartfelt congratulations to Chairman Kim Jong-un for having steered the DPRK-U.S. summit meeting and talks successfully and put the situation of the Korean Peninsula on the track of dialogue, negotiation, peace and stability," the KCNA reported.
Trump and Kim, on June 12 signed a joint agreement at the summit in Singapore, according to which the latter committed to 'complete denuclearisation of Korean Peninsula' and Trump pledged 'security guarantees' to North Korea.
Both leaders decided to build new relations by making joint efforts to establish a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.