The event comes as the president has taken a hawkish stance on North Korea, making displays of weapons and military drills a cornerstone of his strategy to counter the North's evolving nuclear and missile programmes.

The meeting aims in part to set the stage for the resumption of three-way summits among the countries' leaders, which were last held in 2019.

It denounces South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for criticising its cooperation with Moscow.

The broad outlines of the US-Iran deal under which five US citizens detained by Iran would be allowed to leave in exchange for the transfer of the funds and the release of five Iranians held in the US were made public.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol told Chinese Premier Li Qiang that North Korea should not be a 'stumbling block' in bilateral ties with Beijing as it poses an 'existential threat' to South Korea.

Li, for his part, reiterated China's support for both sides on the Korean peninsula to advance reconciliation and cooperation.

They are protesting what they say is widespread harassment by overbearing parents that has led colleagues to take their own lives.

The issue sits at the confluence of South Korea's sharply declining birthrate, aging population, and its historical reluctance to accept more immigrants.

It says the exercises amount to plans for a preemptive nuclear attack by the US.

In South Korea, the government has said it has found no scientific or technical problems with the release, but public concern remains high over seafood and ocean contamination.

South Korea has said it sees no scientific problems with the water release but environmental activists argue that all possible impacts have not been studied.

The government has reintroduced the drills into the annual Ulchi civil defence exercises, held alongside the Ulchi Freedom Shield drills to improve responses to a North Korean attack or other emergency.