South Korea's top national security officials agreed Thursday to step up efforts for closer relations between their country and two neighboring powers, China and Japan, as they reviewed the results of President Moon Jae-in's summit talks in China earlier this week.

Moon made a two-day visit there for a string of summits with the leaders of China and Japan, including trilateral talks.

On Monday, he held bilateral talks with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, where they agreed on the need for maintaining the momentum of dialogue with North Korea.

Moon then traveled to the mainland city of Chengdu for an annual group summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday.

Moon met bilaterally with Abe on the sidelines, their first official summit in 15 months. Both Seoul and Tokyo attached meaning to the summit itself as they have struggled to narrow differences over the World War II forced labor compensation issue and to resolve a trade row. But Moon and Abe remained apart over how to settle the forced labor problem.

During the weekly session of the National Security Council standing committee, its members agreed to strengthen cooperation with Japan and China so that the latest summit diplomacy can lead to "concrete fruits," Cheong Wa Dae said. It was presided over by Chung Eui-yong, director of the presidential national security office.

Especially, it added, they decided to endeavor to promote "future-oriented, mutually beneficial" tripartite cooperation among the regional powers on the basis of a joint vision statement adopted in the Chengdu session.

In the document, titled "Trilateral Cooperation Vision for the Next Decade," the trio agreed to "maintain durable peace and security and advocate open and win-win cooperation."

They also stated the shared goal of advancing science and innovation cooperation to address common regional and global issues through existing mechanisms, while enhancing regional connectivity and infrastructure cooperation including transport and logistics areas.

On regional security conditions, meanwhile, the NSC officials reaffirmed their commitment to "making active efforts" for the resumption of Pyongyang-Washington dialogue through close cooperation with related nations. (Yonhap)