South Korea's foreign minister is expected to visit China soon to fine-tune preparations for the upcoming summit between their leaders, a government source said Monday.

Kang Kyung-wha is to visit Beijing "as early as next week" to discuss detailed preparations for the third summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping scheduled for next month, according to the source.

It would mark Kang's first trip to China since taking office in June.

After talks in Vietnam on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Moon and Xi announced on Saturday they will meet in Beijing next month.

The leaders are expected to focus on cooperation on North Korea's nuclear threats and ways to normalize their ties strained by a year-long feud over Seoul's decision to allow for deployment of a US missile defense system. (Yonhap)