China is willing to develop defense related exchanges and cooperate with the Republic of Korea on the basis of mutually respecting each other's security interest, China’s Defense Ministry said.

"China values developing Sino-ROK military relations," the ministry said.

The ministry made the remark in response to reports regarding a ROK naval ship being denied port call to a port in Qingdao earlier this week.

ROK media Arirang news speculated that the entry denial was China's "retaliation" against Seoul deploying Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in ROK.

A ROK Navy official said it requested to dock at the Qingdao port, but didn't receive a response, so it had to return home five days earlier than scheduled.

The ship was carrying 600 personnel, including 130 naval academy cadets. They were on a three-month-long tour to twelve countries, according to Yonhap news agency.