It was learned on the 14th that Minister Cho of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is expected to visit China this week for the first time since taking office.
According to the diplomatic community, Minister Cho is said to visit Beijing, China, around the 17th to meet with Wang Yi, director of the Communist Party of China Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office and foreign minister, among others, to discuss pending issues between Korea and China.
Key agenda items include Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Korea and North Korea issues.
First, there is a possibility they will discuss whether Xi will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held in Gyeongju at the end of October. The Chinese side has not yet given a definite answer.
It is also expected that they will reaffirm the goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. Earlier, at the China–North Korea summit held in early September on the occasion of China's Victory Day, there was no mention of denuclearization. This raised concerns that China's stance of "not tolerating North Korea's nuclear program" might have changed.
Earlier, after taking office, Minister Cho had his first phone call with Director General Wang Yi in Jul. Last year. At the time, Minister Cho said, "Korea attaches great importance to Korea–China relations and hopes to promote closer high-level exchanges between the two countries and work toward greater development of the future-oriented strategic cooperative partnership between Korea and China."
In response, Director General Wang Yi said that Korea's policy toward China is that "China–Korea relations should not be restricted by any third country."
Meanwhile, Minister Cho is said to have taken the position ahead of this trip to China that the order of visits will not be a constraint. Formally, because former Minister Cho Tae-yeol went to China in May last year, it would be China's turn to visit Korea this time. At a press briefing in Aug., Minister Cho said, "Rather than insisting on order and protocol, we intend to manage Korea–China relations well by taking a practical approach, including reciprocal visits if necessary."