China's No. 3 official coming to Seoul this month

Politics

Published: 01 Sep. 2022, 15:22

China's No. 3 official coming to Seoul this month

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Chinese National People's Congress Standing Committee, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing China, on Aug. 17. He is expected to visit Seoul later this month. [XINHUA/YONHAP]

Li Zhanshu, China's third most senior official, is expected to visit Seoul later this month, according to sources Thursday.

Li, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, is expected to make a three-day visit to Seoul starting Sept. 15, and Seoul and Beijing are coordinating his schedule, according to diplomatic and parliamentary sources.

His visit could be a chance to discuss a possible visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Korea, which would be the first such trip in eight years.

Li's visit comes at the invitation of National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo. The invitation was first made by Park Byeong-seug in Beijing in February when the former parliamentary speaker attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics on Li's invitation.

Li is expected to meet with Kim on Sept. 16 as the two sides celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations this year.

He is expected to pay a courtesy call on President Yoon Suk-yeol, which could be a chance to discuss a bilateral summit between the countries' leaders.

In a congratulatory letter to Xi last week to mark the 30th anniversary of bilateral relations, Yoon said he would like to meet the Chinese leader in person.

Xi last visited Korea in July 2014 during the Park Geun-hye administration.

The last summit between the countries' leaders was between Xi and President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of a Korea-China-Japan summit in Beijing on Dec. 23, 2019.

Yoon and Xi are most likely to first meet on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, or the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok, Thailand, both scheduled for November.

The timing of Li's visit appears to take into consideration Yoon's expected visit to New York for the UN General Assembly later this month.

This will be the first visit by a chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to Korea since Zhang Dejiang's trip during the Park administration in June 2015.

On Aug. 24, the two countries hosted simultaneous events in Seoul and Beijing to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral ties, and their two presidents exchanged personal letters.

In his letter, Xi said he is ready to work with Yoon to "strengthen strategic communication" to "jointly create a brighter future of bilateral relations and deliver more benefits" to both countries' people.

The Chinese president stressed that a key for the two sides is "mutual respect and trust" and to accommodate each other's "core interests and major concerns."

Yoon wrote that he hopes that the two countries "seek new directions for cooperation over the next 30 years" and "quantitatively develop ties" based on a "spirit of mutual respect and reciprocity."

The exchange came at a time of growing military and technological rivalry between the United States and China, especially following U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan before a trip to Seoul in August.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]