The Chinese Foreign Ministry says it supports the strengthening of diplomatic ties between the DPRK and South Korea, and hopes this will be used as a stepping stone to future talks.

LU KANG CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON "We can also see the feelings of kinship between the North and the South. We see that both sides are meeting each other half way, and are showing goodwill to each other. We see that a constructive effort has been made in order to improve the relationship and ease tension on the peninsula. I have said it before and would like to reiterate that the international community should encourage this."