Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will visit China from Friday to Saturday for talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, as Beijing prepares to host a high-profile regional summit that could reshape diplomatic dynamics surrounding the Korean Peninsula.
Cho will hold bilateral talks and attend a dinner with Wang on Friday, ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen on Nov. 18-19, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Doo-soon said Thursday. The two-day visit comes at Wang's invitation.
The visit is expected to provide an opportunity for Seoul and Beijing to coordinate the agenda and arrangements for a possible summit between President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen on Nov. 18-19.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing attached great importance to Cho's visit and hoped to build on recent exchanges between the two countries' leaders to strengthen bilateral ties and discuss issues of mutual concern.
A South Korean Foreign Ministry official told reporters that Wang had formally invited Cho during his visit to Seoul in August, with the two sides coordinating the schedule since then.
The official also suggested that developments surrounding North Korea and the prospects for renewed dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington would likely feature in the discussions, particularly following recent visits to China by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Kim Song-nam, a senior North Korean party official who heads the Workers' Party's International Department.
"Given recent developments related to US-North Korea dialogue, I expect the two ministers will naturally address these issues as they discuss the situation on the Korean Peninsula," the official said.
The meeting would also provide an opportunity for Seoul to explain its policy of peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula, the official added.
The scheduled talks come after Wang met Kim Song-nam in Beijing on Nov. 5 and held a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday, raising speculation that Beijing could share its assessments of recent developments and prospects for diplomacy involving Pyongyang and Washington.
Seoul also seeks to sustain momentum in improving relations with Beijing while navigating growing uncertainty over possible diplomatic engagement among the United States, China, Russia and North Korea.
The two ministers are also expected to discuss outstanding bilateral issues, including China's restrictions on South Korean cultural content, commonly known as the Hallyu ban, and Seoul's concerns over Chinese maritime structures in the Yellow Sea.
The upcoming talks will follow the two ministers' meeting in Seoul on Aug. 19, when they discussed bilateral relations, Korean Peninsula security and preparations for the November APEC summit.
President Lee Jae Myung is also scheduled to travel to Shenzhen on Nov. 18 after attending ASEAN-related summits in Manila, the Philippines, beginning Nov. 16.
Lee is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping during the APEC gathering, building on their previous summits in Gyeongju in November 2025 and Beijing in January. Economic cooperation, supply chain stability and Korean Peninsula security are expected to feature prominently in bilateral diplomatic discussions.
The upcoming APEC summit has attracted particular attention amid speculation that US President Donald Trump, Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin could hold an unprecedented trilateral meeting, potentially addressing major international security issues, including developments on the Korean Peninsula.
The possibility of renewed diplomatic contact between Washington and Pyongyang has also emerged, although Seoul has downplayed expectations of an imminent breakthrough.
A senior presidential official said Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's participation in APEC-related diplomacy and direct US-North Korea contact remained unlikely. However, Korean Peninsula issues could be discussed if a US-China-Russia trilateral summit materializes.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
