Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, will visit Busan for talks with Republic of Korea's (ROK) national security adviser this week, Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
The trip comes amid coronavirus pandemic and stalled denuclearization talks between Seoul and Pyongyang.
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Yang will visit Busan from August 21 to 22 and meet Suh Hoon, director of ROK's presidential national security, the Chinese ministry's spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a briefing.
A map of the Korean Peninsula showing the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is seen at the Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, ROK, June 9, 2020. /AP
According to the ROK's presidential office, the two sides "plan to have talks on Saturday morning and luncheon consultations and to exchange opinions on issues of mutual concern such as South Korea (ROK)-China coronavirus response cooperation, bilateral relations including high-level exchanges as well as the Korean peninsula and international security situations," spokesperson Kang Min-seok told a press briefing.
Before the ROK, Yang will also visit Singapore from August 19-20, Zhao said.
Stalled inter-Korean relationship
The inter-Korean relationship would possibly top the agenda, many predict as the Korean Peninsula situation has soared following the collapse of the denuclearization negotiations between DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and President Trump.
Most recently on July 17, the ROK took action and punished defector groups of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for sending anti-DPRK propaganda leaflets across the border.
The leaflets are distributed across the border in hydrogen balloons and include information about the outside world, dollar bills, criticism of Kim government, and USBs loaded with ROK and Western media, among other things, according to media reports. They've "gravely hindered" efforts towards unification," said the ROK's Unification Ministry.
The punishment came a month after Pyongyang blew up the the inter-Korean liaison office near its southern border "in the wake of cutting off all the communication liaison lines between the north (DPRK) and the south (ROK)," announced Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
At the time, Pyongyang even threatened to map out "military action plans," saying their army is "full ready."
"What may seem like a small gesture by Seoul can go a long way in beginning to repair strained inter-Korean ties," commented ROK analyst Gabriela Bernal, who's also a PhD student at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
"The ROK can't afford to please everyone at the cost of further damaging relations with the DPRK. This decision clearly shows Seoul's commitment towards engagement with Pyongyang and promoting peace, not tension, on the Korean Peninsula."
(Cover: China's Yang Jiechi talks to Minister of the Presidency of the Dominican Republic Gustavo Montalvo (not pictured) in Zhongnanhai State Guesthouse, Beijing, China, September 17, 2019. /Reuters)