Ahead of North Korea's summits with South Korea and the U.S.,.... neighboring countries are jostling for position to help resolve the issue.
As part of the pre-summit diplomatic blitz by all related parties,... China's top diplomat is in Japan.... for rare talks with his Japanese counterpart,... and it seems the discussions went quite well.
Lee Ji-won reports.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono in Tokyo on Sunday to discuss ways to improve their relationship, as well as the issue of North Korea's nuclear program.
It marked the first time in eight years for China's top diplomat to visit Japan alone.

At the meeting, the two sides agreed that the countries should continue to impose economic sanctions on North Korea in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions,... and that China and Japan must closely cooperate to achieve their common goal.

"I hope our two countries can work together towards our common goals and cooperate together so North Korea will completely and irreversibly denuclearize in a verifiable manner."

The two sides also shared thoughts on thawing their frosty relations.

"I see this meeting as Japan having a forward-looking view towards relations with China. Through this visit, I hope during the high-level exchange, we can exchange opinions."

They also sought to take their territorial dispute regarding the East China Sea in a future-oriented direction.
Kono told reporters that it's difficult to improve ties without stabilizing the area, adding that the two saw eye-to-eye on the importance of making it an area of peace, cooperation and friendship.
Tokyo's diplomat said they hope to organize reciprocal visits by their leaders.

This comes after Asia's top two economies saw their ties strained to the limit regarding historical issues, including a dispute over ownership of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea, known as Senkaku and or Diaoyu.

But with Tokyo having displayed a friendly attitude toward Beijing since last year, according to Wang,...thus leading to his visit to Japan,... there are widespread views the two countries' relations will improve.

Wang and Kono are to meet again on Monday for the fourth China-Japan High-Level Economic Dialogue.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.