Do Je-hae edits news stories as part of the AI team.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi may visit Korea
President Moon Jae-in, right, shakes hands with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on Dec. 5, 2019 at Cheong Wa Dae. Korea Times file
By Do Je-hae
By Do Je-hae
The latest news reports of China's state councilor and foreign minister Wang Yi's possible visit to Korea later this month is renewing focus on Chinese President Xi Jingping's pledge to visit the country this year.
The U.S. presidential election has divided Cheong Wa Dae's attention in recent months. But since the election has concluded, Seoul and Beijing have resumed talks on arranging high-level visits, according to Cheong Wa Dae and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The latest local news reports have highlighted the possibility that Wang could visit Korea before or after his visit to Japan.
In Japanese media, the Mainichi Shimbun reported that Wang will visit Japan at the end of November.
Speculations in the diplomatic community are rising that Wang's main mission during the prospective visits to Japan and Korea will be to discuss arrangements for Xi to visit the two neighbors.
In particular, questions are being raised as to whether Xi will visit the two U.S. allies before the inauguration of U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden in January 2021.
Wang's last visit to Korea was in December 2019 when he visited Cheong Wa Dae to meet with President Moon.
Wang is expected to embark on his tour of Japan and Korea after he participates in a series of multilateral meetings scheduled for later this week, including the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit, the APEC summit and the G20 summit, which concludes on Nov. 21.
Besides Xi's visit, there is also keen interest in what Wang will have to say with regard to the rising U.S.-China competition. Wang has been vocally critical of the U.S.-led Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or the Quad, a strategic security cooperation among U.S., Japan, Australia and India, saying it undermines regional security. But Washington has said the Quad is not exclusive and the U.S. is open to expanding it to include more allies, such as Korea. The Quad has emerged as one the challenges for Korea's diplomacy amid the competition between the two superpowers.
The Ministry of Foreign affairs has not made any announcement regarding the reports of Wang's prospective visit, expect to say that the two sides have continued mutual communication on high-level exchanges. “The two sides are discussing Xi's visit to Korea based on the principle to push for the visit as soon as the COVID-19 situation stabilizes,” Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told reporters on Nov. 12 after her visit to the U.S.
Despite the pandemic, the two sides have continued to discuss Xi's visit to Korea through various channels. In August, China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi , director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, visited Busan and met with Suh Hoon, chief of the presidential National Security Office (NSO) to discuss Xi's visit to Korea and other bilateral issues, such as cooperation on COVID-19.
The leaders of the two countries have kept up their communication as well. On March 26, they meet during the video-linked G20 special summit and talked on the phone twice this year, on Feb. 20 and May 13. During the phone talks on May 12, Xi expressed his “firm determination” to visit Korea within the year, according to the presidential office.