South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is scheduled to visit China for the first time this week, at a critical juncture and ahead of a highly anticipated visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to diplomatic sources in Seoul.
Cho is set to travel to Beijing on Wednesday to meet with senior Chinese officials, including his counterpart, Wang Yi.
Cho’s visit comes despite the usual practice of reciprocal exchanges, under which it would have been Wang’s turn to visit South Korea.
Wang has not traveled to South Korea since attending the trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting in Busan in November 2023, while then-Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul traveled to Beijing in May 2024.
At a press briefing in August, Cho hinted at his potential trip to China, while emphasizing a pragmatic approach to Seoul-Beijing relations.
“Rather than strictly adhering to order or protocol, we seek to manage Korea-China relations pragmatically, including through mutual visits when necessary,” said Cho.
The foreign minister's visit comes about a month and a half before the APEC summit, which South Korea is to host from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1 in the historic city of Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province.
Beijing has yet to make an official announcement regarding Xi’s participation in the summit.
However, expectations in Seoul have been running high, given that China will chair APEC next year and that Xi has never skipped an APEC summit. Xi's visit would mark his first trip to South Korea in more than 11 years, since July 2014.
Against this backdrop, Cho’s discussions with Chinese officials are likely to focus on President Xi’s possible visit to South Korea next month for the summit.
North Korea is also expected to be high on the agenda. Seoul has grown increasingly concerned that Beijing’s stance on denuclearization may be shifting, as the statement issued following the Sept. 4 meeting between Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made no mention of denuclearization.
The Xi-Kim summit — their first in more than six years, since June 2019 — was held on the occasion of China’s Victory Day celebrations on Sept. 3.
Observers in Seoul noted that the carefully worded statement released by Beijing after the meeting notably omitted any reference to the principle of denuclearization, long considered a cornerstone of China’s policy on the Korean Peninsula. This omission has fueled speculation that Beijing may be moving toward tacit acceptance of North Korea’s nuclear status.
Another likely topic for bilateral discussion is the structures unilaterally built by Chinese authorities in the jointly managed maritime zone in the West Sea.
dagyumji@heraldcorp.com
