(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) South Korean President Park Geun-hye showed appreciation Wednesday for Beijing's support in handling last month's crisis with North Korea, as she was joined by her Chinese opposite number in warning Pyongyang against further provocations.
Just over a week after talks with the North inspired a cooperation pact that brought the Korean Peninsula back from the brink of conflict, Park arrived in Beijing for summit talks with President Xi Jinping.
Following the leaders' latest in a series of official meetings since 2013, Seoul's presidential office revealed that the two sides shared a firm stance on North Korea, voicing "opposition to any act that could escalate tensions".
Earlier in the day, the North had issued an official statement distancing itself from any apology for landmine blasts that left two South Korean soldiers seriously wounded last month.
Seoul was backed by the United Nations Command in pinning the blame for the blasts on North Korea, which later sparked an exchange of artillery fire before tensions could be defused.
Despite a six-point inter-Korean agreement being sealed on August 25, little headway has been made to curb Pyongyang's nuclear weapon ambitions.
According to Seoul, Park and Xi concurred that dialogue on the matter "should be quickly resumed".
The South Korean president has risked a close relationship with the United States by traveling to the Chinese capital for 70th anniversary celebrations of Japan's World War II defeat.
The South recently marked its own liberation from Tokyo's 1910-45 colonial rule, but Park is set to be at a parade displaying China's military might in Tiananmen Square this Thursday.
Her planned attendance is notable as she will be the only leader there from a country allied to the U.S.
Reports previously cited Washington's concerns about Park's presence signaling a diplomatic shift towards Beijing, although American officials have gone on record to deny such claims.
Meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has snubbed this week's celebrations, fueling suggestions of a fraying relationship with Pyongyang's traditional ally China - which as recently as the 1950s was fighting against South Korea and the U.S. on the side of the North during the Korean War.
With a free trade deal between Seoul and Beijing about to be ratified, much has changed since 1953.
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