South Korea is hoping to normalize relations with China that have been strained in recent years, the leader of a high-level delegation from Seoul said during a visit to Beijing on Sunday, Yonhap News Agency reported.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung sent the envoys to his country's main trading partner as he travels to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump.
Former assembly speaker Park Byeong-seug, the head of the delegation, met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and handed over a letter from Lee to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Diplomatic ties between the two countries have improved since a 2017 dispute over South Korea's deployment of a US missile defense system, which Beijing opposed.
But they exchanged harsh words in 2023 about critical comments on Beijing by South Korea's last president, Yoon Suk Yeol.
Delegation to 'open door to normalizing relations,'
Park told Wang Yi on Sunday he hoped the delegation would "open the door to normalizing South Korea-China relations, which have been strained in recent years," Yonhap said.