After Pyongyang launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) this week, South Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin urged China to take a "constructive role" in reducing North Korea's threats on Friday.

Park "strongly denounced" North Korea's ICBM launch during a conversation with China's senior diplomat Wang Yi that took place in Jakarta in conjunction with an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathering.

Seoul and Beijing share a mutual interest in seeing North Korea put an end to its provocations and resume talks, according to his office.

"Minister Park ... stressed that it was more important than ever for the Chinese side to play a constructive role for the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula," Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement.

For several years, the United Nations Security Council has been divided over how to deal with Pyongyang.

More sanctions, according to China and Russia, won't do anything to defuse the situation, while Washington accuses Beijing and Moscow of giving North Korea more confidence by protecting it from additional sanctions.

Additionally, since China's envoy last month cautioned South Korea against placing a bad wager on the Sino-U.S. rivalry, relations between the two countries have deteriorated.

China was already enraged by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in April when he claimed that North Korea and Taiwan's conflict was a "global" issue that extended beyond China and Taiwan's democratically run government. Taiwan is included in Beijing's territorial claims.

"The Taiwan issue is the core of China's core interests, and concerns the political foundation and basic faith of China-South Korea relations," Wang told Park at the ASEAN meetings, according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout on Saturday.

"It is hoped that the South Korean side will abide by the one-China principle and handle it prudently and properly."

According to Wang, China is prepared to cooperate with South Korea to reestablish mutual confidence and move their strategic cooperation forward once more.

Without providing further specifics, China's foreign ministry said that the two parties also discussed other global and regional concerns, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Image source: Reuters