By Joyce Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Wednesday he will be discussing Chinese President Xi Jinping’s attendance at the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum hosted by Korea in late October during his visit to Beijing.
Speaking ahead of his departure for a two-day trip to China, Cho said he would be hearing from Chinese officials about a recent visit to Beijing by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to attend a World War Two anniversary event.
“China is an important neighbour of ours with the two countries being strategic partners,” Cho told reporters, adding he would be discussing developing cooperation further with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
“I understand President Xi Jinping is going to visit South Korea for the APEC meeting,” Cho said. “We will also be discussing details about that.”
Cho said it was important as neighbours not to shy away from difficult conversations on “undesirable issues,” such as structures erected by China in an area of the ocean where the countries’ exclusive economic zones overlap.
China has said there was nothing illegal about the structures, describing them as fishing facilities.
South Korea has invited Xi and U.S. President Donald Trump to the APEC summit that starts on October 31 in the city of Gyeongju. President Lee Jae Myung suggested Trump try to meet with the North Korean leader Kim during his trip to the region.
Xi earlier this month stood side by side with Kim at a military parade in Beijing and held a separate bilateral meeting, their first in six years. Kim also held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in China.
South Korea’s National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac ruled out the possibility that Kim would attend the APEC summit and said the prospect of a meeting between Trump and Kim at this time was “not high.”
“China is a very important country for regional peace and prosperity and for peace on the Korean Peninsula” and its role in South Korea’s long-term security goals requires Seoul to ensure its ties with Beijing are strong even though the two do not share identical values, he told reporters.
Wi said he was not able to confirm a media report published on Wednesday that said South Korea has obtained intelligence indicating Russia had provided reactor modules for nuclear-powered submarines to North Korea.
North Korea and Russia have dramatically heightened military cooperation in the past two years with Kim sending more than 10,000 troops to Russia to fight in the war with Ukraine. South Korean and Western officials have said Pyongyang was receiving help with critical military technology in return.
(Reporting by Jack Kim amd Joyce Lee; Editing by Ed Davies)
