中 왕이 25~27일 방한...강경화 만나 '포스트 美대선' 등 현안 논의

China’s foreign minister will visit Seoul next week for meetings with officials here amid efforts to resume bilateral summit diplomacy and stalled nuclear talks involving North Korea.
Wang Yi will arrive in South Korea on Wednesday for a three-day stay and meet his counterpart Kang Kyung-wha for a high-level bilateral exchange and to discuss regional issues including North Korea and the COVID-19 outbreak.
His visit comes as the two countries explore a potential visit to Seoul by Chinese President Xi Jinping and the U.S. is soon to have new leadership.
Yoon Jung-min reports.
China's foreign minister Wang Yi will be coming to Seoul from November 25th to the 27th for talks with his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha.
According to the South Korean foreign ministry, they will discuss ways to work together on tackling COVID-19 and issues on the Korean Peninsula.
Also on the agenda are regional and international issues... at a time when the U.S. is about to have a new administration, and the relations between Washington and Beijing appear to be as tense as ever.
"I think the purpose of his visit is to check up on South Korea's position on newly elected President-elect, Mr. Biden. And with Mr. Biden coming into power, there's going to be a lot of agenda on the table between South Korea and the United States. For instance, Quad, the Indo-Pacific Strategy..."
The two top diplomats are also likely to discuss a possible visit to South Korea by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
This week, the Chinese ambassador to Seoul, Xing Haiming said South Korea will be the first country President Xi visits when the pandemic situation stabilizes.
"At this moment, because of the coronavirus situation as well as China's situation, domestically speaking, I don't think it's going to facilitate his visit before the end of the year, but they might be talking about the pending visit... probably next year or so."
Seoul's foreign ministry says the two foreign ministers have been in frequent communication, but it will be their first face-to-face meeting since the pandemic began.
Wang last visited South Korea in December 2019.
While here, Wang is likely to meet other high-ranking officials as well.
Before his visit to South Korea, the Chinese diplomat will visit Japan from November 24th to the 25th.
There, he is expected to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his own Japanese counterpart, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.
Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.