Speaker Moon meets with top Chinese party official over N. Korea

National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang has met with a senior Chinese party official to discuss ways to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula, his office said Tuesday.

Moon held talks with Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, in Beijing on Monday.

Leading a parliamentary delegation, Moon embarked on a three-day trip Monday amid a stalemate in nuclear talks between the United States and North Korea.

In a closed-door meeting, the two officials shared the need to strengthen mutual communication for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, according to Moon's office.

They reportedly touched on North Korea's latest firing of short-range projectiles into the East Sea.

When asked by a South Korean lawmaker about the assessment of the North's act, Yang was quoted as saying that China does not see any change in the current dialogue situation.

North Korea fired multiple short-range projectiles into the East Sea on Saturday in an apparent display of its frustration over stalled nuclear negotiations with the US.

As for fine dust air pollution, Moon stressed the importance of close cooperation between Seoul and Beijing as it is a transnational issue.

Yang said the two nations' think tanks need to cooperate on studies as finding the cause of the environmental pollution is difficult.

In a lecture in Peking University on Tuesday, Moon said there is a need to draw up a roadmap to denuclearize North Korea in a phased and synchronized manner to break the current stalemate.

"Through inter-Korean summits and various channels, we've made it clear to the North that there will be clear limitations in advancing inter-Korean ties if North Korea does not give up its nuclear program," Moon said.

"The grand premise for the development of the two Koreas' relations is that they will be pursued under sanctions regimes and international coordination," he added.

Moon also called for China to play a role in persuading North Korea to walk on the path toward becoming a normal state. (Yonhap)