Foreign ministers of South Korea, China to meet in Beijing

Cho Tae-yul, the South Korean minister of foreign affairs, will visit Beijing on May 13-14 at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry in Seoul said Friday that a meeting between Cho and Wang is expected to take place May 13.

According to the ministry, the two ministers will exchange views on South Korea-China bilateral relations, issues affecting the region, and other “matters of mutual interest.”

At the meeting, they may also discuss the details of the three-way summit among South Korea, Japan and South Korea slated to be held in Seoul later this month, such as items to be included on the summit agenda.

The upcoming meeting in Beijing marks the first in-person meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries since the South Korea-Japan-China trilateral foreign ministers’ talks on Nov. 26 last year in Busan.

The last South Korean foreign minister to visit Beijing was Kang Kyung-wha in 2017, during the previous Moon Jae-in administration.

Cho was inaugurated in January as the second foreign minister of President Yoon Suk Yeol.