Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, will make an official one-night, two-day visit to South Korea from Aug. 19-20. With U.S. President Donald Trump issuing conciliatory messages toward North Korea and President Lee Jae Myung proposing multilateral discussions to establish a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, talks during Wang’s visit are expected to focus heavily on the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Du-soon said at a regular briefing Aug. 18 that “Minister Wang will make an official visit to South Korea from Aug. 19-20 at the invitation of Foreign Minister Cho Hyun.” The two foreign ministers will hold bilateral talks and an official dinner on Aug. 19, exchanging views on bilateral relations, the situation on the Korean Peninsula and regional and international issues of mutual interest.
Wang will then pay a courtesy call on President Lee at the presidential office on the morning of Aug. 20. Lee is expected to exchange views on the direction of South Korea-China relations and regional developments and convey greetings from Chinese President Xi Jinping. Wang will also hold talks and a luncheon with National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac that day.
Wang’s visit to South Korea for bilateral talks comes about five years after his previous visit in September 2021, while the latest South Korea-China foreign ministers’ meeting was held about 11 months ago in Beijing in September last year. The Foreign Ministry is also attaching significance to Wang’s visit as his first overseas trip following the Beidaihe meetings, where China’s current and former leaders traditionally discuss major issues behind closed doors with groups of experts each summer, as well as a visit marking the 34th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and China.
Attention is focused on what message Wang will deliver regarding the rapidly changing situation on the Korean Peninsula. His visit comes shortly after Trump, who has been sending conciliatory gestures toward North Korea since Aug. 15, ordered a major reduction in the scale of the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises and said Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s leader, had responded to his overtures for dialogue.
Some observers have also raised the possibility that Wang could convey China’s position on Trump’s remarks to South Korea, given that China has been focusing on improving ties with North Korea through Wang’s visit to Pyongyang in April and the North Korea-China summit in June.
The South Korean government is expected to once again ask China to play a role in bringing North Korea back to dialogue through Wang. In his Aug. 15 Liberation Day address, President Lee proposed multilateral discussions to formally end the Korean War, saying, “Let’s begin discussions among the parties concerned to end this very long-standing war.” As he also said such discussions could address effective measures to halt North Korea’s advancement of its nuclear capabilities, Foreign Minister Cho is expected to explain the government’s proposal to Wang and call for China’s “constructive role.”
The fact that President Xi is scheduled to hold a summit with Trump in the United States on Sept. 24 is also drawing attention. Wang’s visit is expected to provide an opportunity for the South Korean government to convey its vision for the Korean Peninsula to China ahead of the U.S.-China summit. The government is also expected to ask both sides to cooperate so that the North Korean nuclear issue can be discussed at the U.S.-China summit.
A South Korean Foreign Ministry official told reporters that “given that the president has presented a blueprint for peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula, I believe discussions on this matter will naturally take place as well,” adding, “The specific format, parties and participants involved in discussions on transforming the armistice regime into a peace regime for peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula will need to continue to be discussed with the relevant countries.”