Since 1997, China and the United States have played a mediating role in Korean peace talks, which virtually ground to a halt after the last round, in August 1999. But warming inter-Korean relations mean prospects could be brightening. The 1950-1953 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Their border remain the world's most heavily fortified. South Korea established diplomatic ties with China in 1992.
China is the only remaining major communist ally of North Korea.
Zhu arrived in Seoul on Tuesday for a three-day visit, his first to South Korea. He plans to join other leaders at the Asia-Europe Meeting in Seoul, which runs Thursday through Saturday. U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright hopes to visit North Korea by the end of this month to ease tensions with the reclusive North, long regarded as a pariah state. During his summit with President Kim, however, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il reportedly said that he was ready to accept the U.S. military presence in the South. If Kim Jong Il confirms that with Albright, it will be a breakthrough.