South Korea's Yoon meets China Premier Li at ASEAN summit

"We need to establish a rules-based maritime order in the South China Sea, a key sea lane in the region, for the Indo-Pacific region to continue prospering with the ASEAN playing a pivotal role for growth," he said. Yoon also said North Korea's nuclear programme was a real threat that can target all countries participating at the summit, and stressed that United Nations member states should follow the Security Council's resolutions.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with China's Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of an ASEAN summit in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Thursday, just hours after Yoon called for a rules-based maritime order in the South China Sea.

Yoon's meeting with Li comes after the South Korean leader vowed to enhance cooperation with China and Japan. In an interview with Indonesia's Kompas newspaper published on Tuesday, Yoon said it was time to put relations among the three Asian countries "back on track."

Just hours earlier, Yoon said any attempts to change the status quo by force in the South China Sea cannot be tolerated. He was speaking at the East Asia Summit which includes the ASEAN bloc, China, Japan, the United States and others. "We need to establish a rules-based maritime order in the South China Sea, a key sea lane in the region, for the Indo-Pacific region to continue prospering with the ASEAN playing a pivotal role for growth," he said.

Yoon also said North Korea's nuclear programme was a real threat that can target all countries participating at the summit, and stressed that United Nations member states should follow the Security Council's resolutions. "The responsibility is heavier for the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council who actually adopted the resolutions," he said.

For the past several years, the U.N. council has been divided over how to deal with Pyongyang. Russia and China have said more sanctions will not help and want such measures to be eased. The remarks come amid reports North Korean leader Kim Jong Un plans to travel to Russia this month to meet President Vladimir Putin and discuss weapons supplies to Moscow.

The United States has said North Korea would pay a price for supplying Russia with weapons to use in Ukraine. South Korea has said the United Nations member states should not violate sanctions, including through arms deals.

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