South Korea calls for greater Chinese efforts to bring North Korea back to talks

GYEONGJU, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Lee Jae Myung asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to make greater efforts to persuade North Korea to return to talks, as the two leaders on Saturday agreed on a set of steps to expand their economic and other ties.

Their one-on-one meeting came hours after they and other Asia-Pacific leaders wrapped up an annual summit in South Korea with a joint statement pledging stronger economic cooperation. The two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in the city of Gyeongju took place a day after Xi and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to dial back earlier steps and de-escalate their trade war.

During his meeting with Lee, Xi called for Seoul to work with Beijing to “practice genuine multilateralism,” according to Chinese state media, as he continued to position Beijing as the defender of the global trade order upended by Trump's sweeping tariffs.

Chinese state media reports on the Xi-Lee meeting didn’t immediately carry any North Korea-related comments by Xi.

However, Wi Sung-lac, Lee’s national security director, said Lee during the meeting outlined his strategy for achieving denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and “requested a constructive Chinese role to help realize the resumption of talks with North Korea.”

“Xi replied that he would continue his efforts to help resolve issues involving the Korean Peninsula and promote peace and stability here,” Wi said.

China is North Korea’s traditional ally and economic pipeline, but there are still questions about how much leverage it has on its impoverished neighbor. China has been long suspected of avoiding fully implementing U.N. sanctions on North Korea and sending clandestine aid shipments to help the North stay afloat and continue to serve as a bulwark against U.S. influence on the Korean Peninsula.

The North Korea item in the Lee-Xi meeting drew an irritated response from Pyongyang. North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Pak Myong Ho slammed South Korea for talking about “its daydream” of realizing North Korea’s denuclearization.

Lee, an advocate of reconciliation with North Korea, said earlier Saturday he would take “more active preemptive steps” to lower military tensions with the North, stressing that peace on the Korean Peninsula is essential to prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region.

Lee’s office said South Korea and China also signed several agreements on jointly combating online scams, expanding a bilateral free trade deal and renewing a currency swap deal that expired last month.

After two days of talks, APEC leaders vowed greater cooperation to tackle shared challenges in a global economy hit hard by rising protectionism and trade tensions between the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies.

Their joint statement declared that the APEC leaders "acknowledge the global trading system continues to face significant challenge.”

“We reaffirm our shared recognition that robust trade and investment are vital to the growth and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region,” it says.

Jeonghun Min, a professor at South Korea’s National Diplomatic Academy, said the statement avoided direct language supporting “free and open trade,” which would not have received backing from the United States, but still endorsed economic cooperation and multilateralism at the core of APEC’s mission.

"It wasn’t possible to leave that out entirely,” said Min.

The joint declaration said that APEC members remain committed to the Putrajaya Vision 2040, a 20-year growth vision adopted in 2020 that calls for a trade environment that’s “free, open, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent and predictable.”

While the summit's opening session on Friday focused on ways to boost trade and investment, Saturday's meeting had cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence, demographic challenges and cultural industries on its agenda.

Xi urged Asia-Pacific countries on Saturday to promote the “sound and orderly development” of AI in a way that is mindful of all of humanity's well-being. He proposed the formation of a new global body called the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization.

Trump, known for his dismissal of multilateralism, had quickly left South Korea after the agreement with Xi, leaving the Chinese president to steal the limelight at the APEC summit. The U.S. under Trump has stepped back from efforts to regulate AI and would be unlikely to join the group that China has proposed.

APEC leaders also issued a statement Saturday calling for a coordinated approach to the changes brought by AI, which they described as a potential economic catalyst that also poses challenges. Another statement urged cooperation to address declining birth rates, aging populations and accelerated urbanization.

On Friday, Xi told the summit that China would support global free trade and supply chain stability — an apparent effort to position his country as an alternative to Trump’s protectionist policies. In written remarks sent to a CEO summit held in conjunction with the APEC summit, Xi said that “investing in China is investing in the future.”

Established in 1989, APEC champions free and open trade and investment to promote regional economic integration. But the region now faces challenges such as the U.S.-China rivalry, supply chain disruptions, aging populations and the impact of AI on jobs.

Protesters against the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and United States President Donald Trump gather in Gyeongju, South Korea, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, meets with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the APEC summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Yonhap via AP)

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a press conference for the South Korea Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, center left, and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, center right, shake hands after a group photo at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Yonhap via AP)

South Korean police officers patrol near the venue of the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, right, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Yonhap via AP)

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, right, speaks next to Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Yonhap via AP)

Banners for APEC 2025 Korea are displayed during the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit at Gyeongju station in Gyeongju, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly declined Tuesday, despite a rally on Wall Street boosted by easing oil prices, as regional investors still weighed the impact from the recent joint U.S.-Japan currency intervention.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.6% to 63,369.85, as the U.S. dollar inched up to 157.63 Japanese yen from 157.18 yen. The euro cost $1.1511, little changed from $1.1514. The dollar was trading at 160-yen levels before the intervention.

Some analysts said the effectiveness of such an intervention remains uncertain as it doesn't address the fundamental economic reasons behind the currency fluctuations, including inflation, interest rates and the relative strengths of the economies.

“A U.S.-backed operation carries far more signaling weight than Tokyo acting alone, and the pledge of further action will give speculators pause. But any U.S. contribution will probably be constrained by size,” a report by BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions, said.

Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy at global financial services firm Ebury, noted the latest effort could have some impact because it appears to signal a real change in monetary policy rather than just a one-time defensive move.

“This is an historic and meaningful development for the yen, which materially improves confidence in our mildly bullish call for the currency,” he said.

South Korea's Kospi inched down less than 0.1% to 6,254.76. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 1.2% to 9,128.60. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.5% to 25,881.99, while the Shanghai Composite declined 0.2% to 3,802.61.

On Wall Street, share prices rallied Monday after easing oil prices helped calm worries that inflation could get even worse. The S&P 500 jumped 1.5% and is just 0.1% below its record set earlier this summer.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which measures a narrower slice of the U.S. stock market, climbed 693 points or 1.3% to an all-time high, while the Nasdaq composite leaped 2.1%.

In energy trading in Asia early Tuesday, benchmark U.S. crude gained 50 cents to $80.84 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 63 cents to $84.40 a barrel.

A day earlier, it had dropped after U.S. President Donald Trump said over the weekend that he decided to hold off on new strikes against Iran at the urging of allies in the region.

Brent’s price careened between $72 and $102 last month as worries rose and fell over the war in Iran and when oil tankers would be allowed to freely exit the Persian Gulf again to deliver crude to customers worldwide.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury sank to 4.68% from 4.75% late Friday. It remains well above its 3.97% level from before the war with Iran.

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, July 30, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)