According to a statement issued by the foreign ministry, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Morgulov Igor Vladimirovich and Pakistan’s Additional Secretary Europe Nadeem Riyaz led their respective sides in discussions that focused on a review of political, economic, parliamentary and cultural relations.

Korea and China have maintained a close relationship since 1992, when they reestablished diplomatic ties that had been severed after the Communists came to power in Beijing in 1949.  Historical and cultural bonds over two millennia underlie their ties, which are evolving into a more mature, substantive and multidimensional partnership based on their growing geopolitical and economic interdependence.

South Korea and China will hold a joint public diplomacy forum in Beijing next week to discuss ways to step up bilateral exchange in non-political sectors, a foreign ministry official here said Thursday.