Foreign Minister visits China, holds Korea-China-Japan summit… Only Xi Jinping’s visit to Korea remains.

by times news cr

2024-05-12 03:52:06

President Yoon Seok-yeol and Chinese President Xi Jinping are shaking hands at the Korea-China summit held at a hotel in Bali, Indonesia on November 15, 2022 (local time). (Provided by the Presidential Office)./News1 ⓒ News1

With Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yeol visiting China this week for the first time since taking office, improvement in Korea-China relations is expected to begin in earnest.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 12th, Minister Cho will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on the 13th to complete the Korea-China foreign ministerial meeting. Through this, opinions will be exchanged on issues of mutual interest, such as Korea-China relations, the Korea-China-Japan summit, the Korean Peninsula, and regional and international issues.

This is the first time Minister Cho meets Director Wang face to face. Minister Cho had his first phone call with Director Wang on February 6th as a meeting.

This is the first time in six months that a Korea-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting has been held since the Korea-China-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Busan in November last year.

Attention is focused on whether Minister Cho’s visit to China will provide momentum for Korea-China relations to get back on track and whether it will naturally lead to high-level exchanges between the two countries.

In particular, Korea, China, and Japan are coordinating plans to hold a summit in Seoul on the 26th and 27th of this month. It is highly likely that related schedules will be announced soon after Minister Cho’s visit to China ends.

The Korea-China-Japan summit was held in Chengdu, China in December 2019, and it is Korea’s turn to host the next meeting. However, it was not held for a long time due to the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) and the deterioration of bilateral relations between Korea, China, and Japan.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yeol./News1 ⓒ News1

Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yeol./News1 ⓒ News1

If the Korea-China-Japan summit is held this time, President Yoon Seok-yeol is expected to hold bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Chang.

After the Korea-China-Japan summit, Jiangsu Party Secretary Xin Changxing will visit Korea late next month. Following Liaoning Province Party Secretary Hao Peng’s visit to Korea last month, cooperation with Chinese local governments appears to be gaining momentum.

Meanwhile, as high-level personnel exchanges between Korea and China become more active, attention is being paid to whether Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Korea.

The last time President Xi visited Korea was in July 2014. Former President Moon Jae-in visited China twice during his term, but President Xi’s ‘return visit’ never took place.

Considering domestic public opinion, the Yoon Seok-yeol government is maintaining the position that ‘this is President Xi’s turn to visit Korea.’

Minister Cho also said in his first briefing with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reporters after taking office in January, “If our president has been to Beijing six times, President Xi has visited Korea only once,” adding, “President Xi is not coming this time.” “It is a reasonable order,” he said.

In relation to this, President Xi is reported to have told President Yoon, “I will be willing to go to Korea once the COVID-19 situation stabilizes” when attending the G20 summit held in Bali, Indonesia in 2022.

With Minister Cho’s visit to China and the upcoming Korea-China-Japan summit holding as an opportunity, the issue of President Xi’s visit to Korea is expected to emerge again as a major ‘task’ between the two countries. Our government is expected to use the trilateral summit as a driving force for President Xi’s visit to Korea.

(Seoul = News 1)

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2024-05-12 03:52:06

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