SEOUL: Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul is considering visiting China in May ahead of a trilateral summit between South Korea, China and Japan in what appears to be a sign of warming ties after a frosty period of tension between the two countries.
If realized, it would be Cho’s first visit to Beijing since taking office in January.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it is currently discussing the date for Cho’s visit.
“The two countries have been communicating closely based on a common interest. We agreed on the importance of high-level exchanges. We are discussing possible dates for Cho’s visit,” a ministry official said in a statement, Sunday.
This follows Cho’s phone conversation with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, who invited him to Beijing. Cho agreed to discuss the matter through diplomatic channels.
Cho has been expressing his wish to meet with Wang.
“I look forward to meeting my Chinese counterpart sooner rather than later,” he said during the 2024 Korea National Diplomatic Academy Meets Ambassadors event held in Seoul, April 12.
The last meeting of the two countries’ top diplomats took place in Busan last November as part of trilateral talks that included Japan.
The move comes as both sides try to improve bilateral relations following tensions over Taiwan and North Korea. The relationship has been stalled since President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed opposition to “any attempts to alter the status quo of the Taiwan Strait by force” in an interview with foreign media in April last year.
In June last year, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming warned Seoul against aligning with Washington, saying “those who bet on China’s loss in its rivalry with the United States will definitely regret it.” China has been deepening its ties with North Korea with its No. 3 official Zhao Leji meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang earlier this month.
In a sign of easing tensions between South Korea and China, Cho held talks with Hao Peng, Chinese communist party secretary of the province of Liaoning, in Seoul last week. The trilateral foreign ministers’ summit is expected to take place in late May.
