BEIJING (AP) — South Korea says it hopes North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's trip to China will act as a "stepping stone" for a second summit between Kim and President Donald Trump.

South Korean presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom made the comments a few hours after Kim arrived in Beijing on Tuesday aboard a special train for a four-day visit.

The spokesman says he hopes impending China-North Korea talks will also help contribute to achieving complete denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea's liberal President Moon Jae-in favors a negotiated solution to the North Korean nuclear confrontations. He has facilitated a flurry of high-profile nuclear diplomacy between North Korea and the United States, including Kim's summit with Trump in Singapore last June.