Park to send special envoy to China next week

President-elect Park Geun-hye will send a delegation of special envoys to China next week to meet with China’s next leader Xi Jinping and other government officials, her spokesman said Wednesday.

The delegation, led by Kim Moo-sung, a key official of Park’s presidential campaign last year, is scheduled to leave next Tuesday for a three-day visit that will include a courtesy call on Xi, spokesman Park Sun-kyoo told reporters at the presidential transition team’s office in Seoul.

The other members of the delegation are Reps. Shim Yoon-joe and Cho Won-jin of Park’s ruling Saenuri Party and Han Seok-hee, a professor of international relations at Seoul’s Yonsei University.

“(The two sides) will of course confirm the friendly relations between South Korea and China, and it’s possible they will wish for relations with (South Korea’s) largest economic partner China to develop (further) amid the rapidly changing environment in Northeast Asia,” Park said, adding that security issues could also be included on the agenda.

China’s cooperation is seen as critical in getting the U.N.

Security Council to punish North Korea for its Dec. 12 long-range rocket launch seen as a banned test of ballistic missile technology. China, a key North Korean ally and a veto-wielding permanent member of the Council, is reportedly reluctant to impose additional sanctions on Pyongyang due to concerns they may destabilize the isolated nation, and harm the political and economic interests of Beijing.

The delegation’s planned visit comes at the request of Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun, who met with Park last Thursday as Beijing’s special envoy, the spokesman said.

It is not yet known whether the delegation will deliver a personal letter from Park to Xi, he added. (Yonhap News)