South Korea's President Park Geun-Hye (L) and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping (R) shake hands after a joint declaration ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing June 27, 2013. REUTERS/ Wang Zhao/Pool
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's president welcomed his South Korean counterpart on Thursday as an "old friend of China" and agreed to make a push for new talks with North Korea on Thursday as two of Asia's newest leaders met for the first time.
Park Geun-hye, one of Asia's few women leaders, took office in Seoul in February amid war threats by North Korea, while China's Xi Jinping was appointed in November and has sought to rein in the North's nuclear weapons programme, backing tougher economic sanctions against Beijing's traditional ally.
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