China’s Xi ‘seriously’ mulling visit to S. Korea for APEC summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping may visit South Korea later this year to attend the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Seoul’s National Assembly Speaker’s office said Friday.

During talks with Woo Won-shik in China’s northeastern city of Harbin, Xi said he is “seriously considering” attending the APEC gathering to take place in Gyeongju, about 270 kilometers southeast of Seoul, around late October or early November.

“It is customary for a Chinese leader to attend the APEC summit,” Xi said.

Woo and Xi’s 42-minute meeting took place as the South Korean National Assembly speaker was visiting Harbin to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Asian Games later in the day.

It marked the first time since 2014 that Xi has met a Korean Assembly speaker.

In the meeting, Xi also said he hopes to maintain “stability” in the Seoul-Beijing relationship, noting that the bilateral relationship has contributed to “peace” and “development” in the region.

“China and South Korea should work together to consolidate the strategic and cooperative partnership amid heightened uncertainties in the region and across the globe,” Xi added, calling for deeper trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

Woo called for bilateral cooperation in advanced technologies and supply chains as well as progress in negotiations to expand the countries’ free trade agreement.

On the ongoing political turmoil in South Korea, Xi said he believes South Koreans have the “wisdom and power” to solve the situation, referring to the martial law fiasco and the push to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol, according to Woo’s office.

Woo told Xi that South Korea is responding to the situation in accordance with related laws and the Constitution, explaining the country is not unstable.

The two also discussed other various topics, including China’s ban on Korean culture content as well as a project aimed at excavating the remains of Ahn Jung-geun, a well-known Korean independence fighter during the colonial era.

During Japan’s colonial rule of Korea from 1910 to 1945, Ahn led Korea’s independence movement in China, assassinating Ito Hirobumi, Japan’s first prime minister and resident-general of Korea, at Harbin Station.

As for culture, Woo told Xi it is difficult to find Korean content in China, while South Koreans enjoy diverse Chinese content from movies to games.

“It is essential that young adults in the two countries communicate with each other and have an amicable relationship through cultural exchange,” Woo said.