New S.Korean president talks to China, Japan leaders

Seoul : South Korea's new president Moon Jae-In spoke to the leaders of China and Japan Thursday, hours after a telephone call with his US counterpart Donald Trump, officials said, as he began shaping his approach to the nuclear-armed North.

Moon favours engagement with Pyongyang to bring it to the negotiating table, unlike his conservative predecessors and the US Trump administration, which backs stronger sanctions and has threatened military action.

But Moon also has to navigate a complex web of regional issues.

Beijing -- the North's biggest trade partner and diplomatic protector -- is infuriated over the deployment of a US missile defence system in the South, and Seoul is embroiled in a row with fellow US ally Tokyo over wartime history. 

Moon had a 40-minute conversation with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, his spokesman Yoon Young-Chan told reporters, with the two agreeing denuclearising Pyongyang was a "common goal" between them.

China and South Korea enjoyed an increasingly warm relationship early in the tenure of Moon's predecessor Park Geun-Hye, drawn together by shared historical differences with Japan.

But ties have plummeted. Beijing sees the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, newly installed in the South intended to guard against threats from the North, as a threat to its own military capabilities and has slapped a series of measures against South Korean businesses seen as economic retaliation.

Moon called for "dialogue along with sanctions and pressure" on the North, Yoon said, and -- echoing the United States' line -- suggested that Beijing should do more to tame Pyongyang.

Moon has previously expressed ambivalence over the THAAD system and told Xi he was "well aware" of Chinese concerns about it.

The two leaders agreed to exchange special envoys "at an early date", with Moon proposing sending a separate delegation to Beijing and Xi inviting him to visit, Yoon said.