Cho Hyun to Visit China on the 17th for the First Time... "Discussion on Xi Jinping's Visit to Korea for APEC"

First South Korea-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting Under New Administration to Be Held in Beijing on September 17

Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun will visit China for the first time since taking office on September 17.

Yonhap News Agency

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on September 15, Minister Cho is scheduled to visit Beijing, China, for a two-day trip starting on September 17. During the visit, he will hold a bilateral foreign ministers' meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The two sides are expected to discuss ways to facilitate the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to South Korea on the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, which will be held in Gyeongju at the end of next month, as well as strategies to advance the mature development of the South Korea-China strategic cooperative partnership, the ministry said.

If President Xi's attendance at the APEC Summit is realized, it would mark his first visit to South Korea in 11 years since 2014 and is likely to be a state visit. A bilateral summit between South Korea and China could also take place.

As this is the first foreign ministers' meeting between South Korea and China under the new administration, the North Korea issue is also expected to be discussed. During the North Korea-China summit held on the occasion of the 80th anniversary Victory Day military parade in Beijing on September 3, there was no mention of "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." This has led to speculation that China's stance on "denuclearization," one of its three key principles regarding the Korean Peninsula, may have shifted. In addition, the issue of China's illegal installation of structures in the West Sea near South Korea is also expected to be on the agenda.

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