Top South Korean and U.S. diplomats have agreed that China's "constructive" role is of importance for peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se held 30-minute talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of the Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic held in Anchorage, Alaska, on Monday (local time).

Their meeting, the third this year, came amid concerns over the impact of President Park Geun-hye's trip to China this week to the Seoul-Washington alliance. Park plans to attend a massive military parade in Beijing on Thursday.

The U.S. views the event as designed to show off China's growing military power. President Barack Obama has rejected Beijing's invitation.

Kerry, however, "expressed sufficient understanding" on the implication of Park's decision on regional security, according to the ministry.

Yun and Kerry "emphasized the importance of China's constructive role" in that regard, it added.

They also agreed to cooperate closely for successful summit talks between Park and Obama scheduled to be held in Washington in October.

U.S. officials said Yun and Kerry pledged to continue joint efforts to deal with North Korea.

"They had a productive discussion on plans for Republic of Korea President Park's upcoming visit and a broad range of bilateral, regional and global issues," a senior State Department official said on background.

The secretary reaffirmed the Obama administration's close coordination with the South on the North and expressed appreciation about Seoul's contributions on addressing global challenges, the official said.

In the talks, meanwhile, Yun gave Kerry a surprise gift -- a framed photo of a young pine tree that will be delivered to the secretary later through the U.S. Embassy in Seoul.

The tree will then be planted in the garden of the secretary's house in Boston, officials said.

Yun chose the gift as Kerry showed keen interest in a pine tree at the minister's official residence in Seoul during his visit there in May.

"The young tree itself is not that expensive but it's highly meaningful as a symbol of the 'evergreen alliance' between the two countries," a South Korean official accompanying Yun said. (Yonhap)