North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui Reported to Visit China... Scheduled to Meet with China's Wang Yi

"Departed Pyongyang by Private Jet on the 27th"... Expected to Discuss Korean Peninsula Situation

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui Meets with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister (Pyongyang, KCNA/Yonhap News) -- North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui met with Sun Weidong, China's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is visiting Pyongyang, on January 26 to discuss bilateral cooperation, the Korean Central News Agency reported on January 27. 2024.1.27

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North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui departed Pyongyang by private jet on the 27th for a visit to China, the Korean Central News Agency reported on the 28th.

Vice Foreign Minister Im Chun-il and Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Wang Yajun saw off Choe and her delegation.

Earlier, a North Korean Air Koryo flight (KOR621), presumed to be carrying Choe, had arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport around 6 p.m. the previous day (local time).

North Korea had previously announced that Choe would visit China from the 27th to the 30th at the invitation of Wang Yi, Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (concurrently Foreign Minister).

This is the first solo visit to China by Choe since taking office in June 2022. It will also be her first one-on-one meeting with China's top diplomat.

It is expected that Choe will hold follow-up discussions with Minister Wang Yi on the implementation of the agreements from the North Korea-China summit held on January 4, and coordinate responses to the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region.

Given that North Korea is preparing for a large-scale military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea next month (October 10th), discussions are also anticipated regarding a potential visit by a high-ranking Chinese official to Pyongyang on that occasion. While the possibility of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit is slim, it cannot be entirely ruled out.

With the APEC summit scheduled to be held in Gyeongju at the end of next month, which is expected to include summits between South Korea and China, and China and the United States, discussions are likely to cover not only related response measures but also the possibility of North Korea-U.S. dialogue.

There are also speculations that Choe may have an audience with President Xi Jinping. Yonhap News