BEIJING (Reuters) - China hopes South Korea will pursue a "positive, objective and friendly" policy towards Beijing, foreign minister Wang Yi said in a phone call with his South Korean counterpart on Tuesday.
China and South Korea have close economic ties, and should work together to maintain the stability and smooth flow of industrial and supply chains, China's foreign ministry quoted Wang as saying in a statement.
During the phone call, South Korean foreign minister Cho Tae-yul asked China to play a "constructive role" in curbing North Korea's military threats, and to help North Korean defectors not to be sent back home against their will, South Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement.
Wang has invited Cho to China and both countries would continue to discuss Cho's visit, the ministry said.
Both sides exchanged views over the situation on the Korean Peninsula, the two countries' ministries said.
(Reporting by Ethan Wang, Ella Cao, Ryan Woo and Ju-min Park; Editing by Alison Williams and Stephen Coates)
