South Korea and China held talks on Monday on ways to bring North Korea back to the bargaining table, capitalising on the mood of closer security ties between the two nations following South Korean President Park Geun-hye's visit to Beijing last week.
Park and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to push for the resumption of "meaningful" six-party talks on denuclearising North Korea, Yonhap news agency reported.
China's deputy envoy to the six-way negotiations Xiao Qian on Monday had a meeting with South Korea's deputy chief nuclear envoy Kim Gunn.
"The two sides agreed to make joint efforts to make positive progress in denuclearisation," the Foreign Ministry said. "They had consultations on ways to engage in dialogue with the North."
The six-party talks have been stalled for nearly seven years, and also involve the US, Japan, and Russia.
The envoys also stressed the importance of implementing the September 19 Joint Statement in which North Korea vowed to abandon its nuclear programme in return for political and economic incentives and that of the UN Security Council resolutions on Pyongyang, added the ministry.