South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul speaks during the sixth South Korea-Australia ministerial meeting in Melbourne, Australia, on May 1. (Yonhap)

BEIJING -- South Korea and China are in the final stage of talks to set up a visit to Beijing by Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul that will make him the first South Korean foreign minister to visit the Chinese capital in more than six years, an official said Monday.

The senior official at South Korea's Embassy in Beijing made the remark to South Korean correspondents, noting that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi invited Cho to visit China when they held phone talks in February.

"The two countries are discussing the specific itinerary and agenda with regard to our foreign minister's visit to China, and the discussions are currently in the final stage of fine-tuning," the official said.

If the trip is realized, Cho will be the first South Korean foreign minister to visit Beijing since then-Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha did so in November 2017 during the administration of then-President Moon Jae-in.