Beijing welcomes a planned inter-Korean summit, but echoes Japan’s warning that there is far to go.
China has said it is «cheering on» North and South Korea after they agreed to hold a leaders’ summit on reducing tensions on the peninsula.
But foreign ministry officials have cautioned it is too early to assume the talks will bring a lasting breakthrough on the central issue — nuclear weapons.
The two Koreas held a landmark meeting in Pyongyang earlier this week.
The South Korean delegation is now en route to the US, and are expected to pass on a message from Kim Jong-un.
South Korea has said the North has indicated it is prepared to give up its nuclear weapons programme — a defining feature of its politics for decades — if the US agrees to guarantee its security.
«We cannot reveal everything to the media but we do have additional views of North Korea we will relay to the United States when we visit the US,» South Korea’s head of national security Chung Eui-yong told reporters.
He and Suh Hoon (C), head of the National Intelligence Service, will head to Japan, Russia and China to brief them on the developments.
The US, which only this week increased its sanctions on Pyongyang over the death of Mr Kim’s brother Kim jong-nam, has said it is open to talking to North Korea, but only if it commits to denuclearisation.
The past year has seen fierce exchanges of threats between the US and North Korea.
