ISTANBUL 

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has said that his country can no longer rely solely on the US for security and China for economic growth, calling the traditional approach no longer viable.

In an interview with Time Magazine published Thursday, Lee, who assumed office in June, outlined his vision for a more balanced and independent South Korean foreign policy.

"We cannot go back to the traditional equation of relying for security on the US and economically on China," Lee said.

South Korea can instead act as a "bridge" between the world's two largest economies as well as militaries, he added.

"Our values of democracy and market economy are based on our US-South Korea alliance,” said Lee.

"But because of our geographical proximity to China, and our historical relationship, economic ties, as well as people-to-people ties, we cannot completely sever our relationship with China. So, we need to manage our relationship at an adequate level, and I believe that the Western world has to be understanding in this regard," Lee explained.

On North Korea, he said a "measured" engagement with Kim Jong Un’s regime is better than exerting pressure.

"And for the North Korean nuclear issue, we often think of this as a choice between all or nothing—whether we tolerate North Korea’s nuclear weapons or attain complete denuclearization. But I believe that there is a middle ground [and] … we can negotiate with North Korea to stop their nuclear and missile programs," he added.

Lee's comments were published a day after South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday in Beijing.

According to a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, both sides acknowledged the "important common understandings" reached to elevate the Beijing-Seoul strategic cooperative partnership since Lee took office.

Both sides should uphold "the original aspiration of establishing diplomatic relations... and be true strategic cooperative partners," Wang said, calling both countries "neighbors that cannot be moved away."

China's policy towards South Korea "remains stable and consistent," Wang told Cho, expressing hope that both sides "will treat each other with sincerity, strengthen mutual trust, deepen cooperation, achieve win-win results, and properly handle sensitive issues."

Cho said Seoul attaches great importance to its relations with China and the "momentum of improvement in bilateral relations."

He expressed willingness to work with China to "further enhance high-level interactions, deepen exchanges and cooperation in economy, trade, culture and other fields, and accelerate negotiations" on the South Korea-China and South Korea-China-Japan free trade agreements.

Cho expressed support for strengthening bilateral and multilateral communication as well as coordination with China to "jointly safeguard regional peace and stability."