South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Sunday proposed a new air route between Seoul and Shanghai to help ferry the growing number of passengers between the two cities.

Yoon Seung-yong, spokesman for the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, said Roh made the proposal at a meeting with China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao at the ASEAN summit in Cebu in the Philippines.

Direct shuttle flights between Seoul's Gimpo International Airport and Shanghai's Hongqiao Airport can reduce the travel time between the two cities. Gimpo and Hongqiao currently handle mostly domestic flights but are closer to the cities they serve than their more modern rivals.

Almost all international flights to Seoul use Incheon International Airport, while those to the Chinese city use Shanghai Pudong International Airport. Gimpo airport has one regular international flight to Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

In addition to proposing the opening of new air routes, Roh called on the Chinese premier to allow South Korean companies to take part in that country's mobile telecommunications market. Beijing has said it will open the market to foreign investors.

The two leaders also reiterated the need to handle the North Korean nuclear issue in a peaceful manner and to work closely at the six-way talks on Pyongyang's atomic ambitions.

The six-way talks between the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia have made little headway in recent months with the North raising tensions by detonating a nuclear bomb in October last year.