Ambassador Jeong Jae-ho to China: "Hope for President Xi Jinping's Visit to Korea in the First Half of Next Year"

Ambassador Jeong Jae-ho expressed hope that Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit South Korea in the first half of next year.

On the 13th, Ambassador Jeong responded this way to a question from Cho Jung-sik, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, during the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee’s audit held at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Beijing, asking whether discussions with the Chinese side regarding President Xi's visit to South Korea were underway.

Ambassador Jeong explained, "We recognize the importance of high-level talks, and President Xi has not visited since his trip to South Korea in 2014, which was nine years ago," adding, "The South Korean president has visited China five times." He further elaborated, "I think it would be good if President Xi visits South Korea first this time."

Earlier, on the 23rd of last month, President Xi met with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo in Hangzhou, China, and mentioned that he would "seriously consider the visit to South Korea." President Yoon Suk-yeol held his first summit with President Xi at the G20 summit held in Bali, Indonesia, last year and requested a visit from President Xi, but President Xi instead proposed that President Yoon visit China.

Regarding a question from Park Hong-geun, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, about what practical benefits China would gain from a visit to South Korea, Ambassador Jeong said, "That is something that needs to be developed through future discussions," adding, "I consider the official statement about reviewing the visit itself to be quite progressive, and I believe that concrete consultations between the two countries are necessary to materialize it."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.