S. Korean president to hold talks with China's Xi over N. Korea next week

SEOUL, Dec. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in is set to travel to China next week for a bilateral summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday, a meeting that will likely focus on ways to rein in North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile technologies.

The South Korean leader will head to Beijing next Wednesday for a three-day trip that will also take him to China's southwestern city of Chongqing. It will mark his first trip to China and his second state visit to a foreign country since taking office in May.

Moon's trip to China will come two weeks after Pyongyang test-fired an apparent intercontinental ballistic missile, resuming its missile provocations after a 75-day hiatus. The communist state also staged its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3.

The Moon-Xi meeting will mark the third of its kind. The two leaders previously met on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum held in July and November, respectively.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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