National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik has received an invitation to the 80th anniversary event of the victory day, which will be held in Beijing, China, on Sept. 3. Speaker Woo is expected to attend on behalf of President Lee Jae-myung.
On the afternoon of the 20th, Speaker Woo met with Chinese Ambassador to South Korea, Xing Haiming, in the Speaker's office.
At this meeting, the Chinese side reportedly conveyed its official intention to invite. The Speaker's office stated in a notice sent to reporters after the meeting, "Speaker Woo has received an official invitation from the Chinese government for the victory day event on Sept. 3," adding, "We will announce the attendance details as soon as a decision is made."
Earlier, China invited President Lee to the victory day event at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. However, given that Speaker Woo has now been invited, it seems more likely that he will attend in place of President Lee, who is second in the national protocol hierarchy.
It is expected that lawmakers from both parties in the National Assembly, who are members of the Korea-China Parliamentary Alliance, will accompany Speaker Woo. Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Kim Tae-nyeon, Vice Chairman Park Jeong, and People Power Party lawmaker Kim Seong-won are likely to go along. Both Kim Tae-nyeon and Park have also been designated as special envoys to China, departing next week.