Lee Jae-myung is set to become the first sitting South Korean president to travel to China since 2019 with a visit scheduled for early January.
Analysts said Lee was expected to engage Beijing on security issues, including North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and the enforcement of international sanctions, while seeking to build on his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in October.
Neither side has confirmed the visit, but preparations are under way, highlighted by a recent strategic vice-ministerial dialogue in Beijing between Park Yoon-joo, South Korea’s first foreign vice-minister, and Ma Zhaoxu, China’s foreign vice-minister.
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According to South Korea’s foreign ministry, the two officials discussed critical regional and international concerns and focused on stabilising the situation on the Korean peninsula and addressing maritime disputes in the Yellow Sea, known in South Korea as the West Sea, signalling a mutual effort to revitalise high-level communication channels.
If the trip does go ahead, it will be roughly two months after Xi visited South Korea for the Apec summit, his first trip to the country in 11 years.
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Lee is likely to seek Beijing’s help in bringing Pyongyang back to the negotiating table, as communication between the two Koreas remained at a standstill, according to analysts.
