US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday that he supports South Korea’s attempts to create a “healthy and mature” cooperative relationship with China.

Blinken, who arrives in Beijing on Sunday for the highest-level visit by a member of President Joe Biden’s administration, spoke with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin on Saturday about bilateral relations, relations between China and South Korea, and North Korea, according to the ministry.

Blinken and Park strongly condemned what they consider North Korea’s repeated provocations, the ministry said, and agreed the U.S., South Korea and Japan should continue to urge China to play a constructive role in the U.N. Security Council on denuclearisation. The statement did not elaborate.

U.S. officials say they do not expect Blinken’s trip to China, the first by a secretary of state in five years, to yield a breakthrough in how Washington and Beijing deal with each other. Blinken said on Friday the trip was aimed at establishing “open and empowered” communications.