S Korean Assembly speaker meets Pelosi amid heightened China-US tensions

Speaker of South Korea's National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo met visiting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing in the wake of her high-profile Taiwan visit

Speaker of South Korea's National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo met visiting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing in the wake of her high-profile visit to Taiwan.

Pelosi is the first US House speaker to visit South Korea since former Speaker Dennis Hastert in 2002, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Pelosi arrived in Seoul on Wednesday night from Taiwan where she reaffirmed unwavering US commitment to supporting the island's democracy.

China denounced her trip to Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province, and announced live-fire military drills around the island.

On Thursday, she met Kim for talks about regional security, economic cooperation and other pending issues.

Also attending the meeting were the floor leaders of the ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party.

Her two-day trip also includes a visit to the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom later on Thursday.

Pelosi's delegation includes House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Gregory Meeks and House Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Mark Takano, as well as other lawmakers, such as Suzan DelBene, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Andy Kim.

South Korea is one of the legs on Pelosi's Asian tour that already has taken her to Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.

After South Korea, she plans to visit Japan.

--IANS

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