China Hopes for Renewal of Talks to Ease Inter-Korean Tensions

China welcomes preparatory talks between South and North Korea and hopes for a quick resumption of high-level negotiations to eliminate border tensions between the two countries, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

BEIJING (Sputnik) – Last week, Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to conduct preliminary working-level talks on November 26  to ease border tensions. The talks will prepare for high-level dialogue between the two countries.

"As a friendly neighbor, China hopes the DPRK and the Republic of Korea will be able to conduct more dialogues and contacts for reconciliation, cooperation and improvement of bilateral relations," Hong Lei said at a briefing commenting on the scheduled meeting.

The spokesman expressed hope that inter-Korean government-level talks would start as soon as possible.

South and North Korea are remain legally at war, as no peace treaty was signed after the Korean War of 1950-1953.

Long-standing tensions between the two Koreas escalated again in late August when cross-border artillery fire erupted along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), prompting Pyongyang to declare what it described as a "semi-state of war." The two countries eventually defused tensions in a series of talks.