Parliament speaker Woo Won Shik shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at Beijing military parade
Seoul wants to “open an era of peace, prosperity” with North Korea, South Korea's top lawmaker Woo Won Shik told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
The two met on the sidelines of a mega military parade in Beijing as China commemorated the end of World War II, as well as the Japanese surrender in 1945.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was also among the 26 foreign leaders, his debut at any multilateral diplomatic event, with whom Woo exchanged greetings -- the first direct contact since the era of South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
Putin, who held bilateral talks with Kim, offered to carry any message to the North Korean leader, the Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.
Woo told the Russian president that Seoul hopes for the two Koreas to "open an era of peace and prosperity."
The South Korean parliament speaker, who earlier met Kim in 2018, underlined the importance of joint efforts to build peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Seoul conveying a message through Putin holds significance as the Moscow-Pyongyang ties have become closer, with Putin and Kim holding a third summit in three years.
Soon after his election in the June snap polls, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has taken several steps to restore communication with North Korea. Pyongyang is yet to positively respond, though both sides have stopped propaganda broadcasts.
Meeting Kim in Beijing, Putin hailed "courageous" North Korean soldiers who joined the Ukraine war -- the first time the Russian president noted the involvement of North Korean troops in the Ukraine war at Kim's initiative.
Putin also extended an invitation to Kim for the latter's third trip to Russia.
Putin and Kim met for their first summit in 2019 in Russia’s Far Eastern city of Vladivostok.
Later in September 2023, Kim traveled to Russia’s Far East again for a second summit with Putin, who paid his second trip to Pyongyang last year in June, when they signed a comprehensive strategic partnership, requiring each other to provide military support in case of a third-party attack.
It was Putin's second trip to Pyongyang, the first one being in 2000, soon after he rose to become the Russian president.
After signing the pact last year, Pyongyang deployed thousands of troops to Russia in the Ukraine war.
According to South Korea, some 2,000 North Korean soldiers died in the Ukraine war.
Separately, Woo met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and urged him to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which will be held next month in South Korea’s southeastern city of Gyeongju.
This marks Woo's second meeting with Xi, following their talks in Harbin, northeastern China, in February.
