Jeong Eui-yong to Visit Russia Next Week to Discuss Korean Peninsula Issues

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong attended the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee's audit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Unification held at the National Assembly on the 21st, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong will visit Russia next week.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 21st, Minister Chung will visit Russia from the 26th to the 28th and broadly exchange views with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on bilateral relations, the Korean Peninsula issue, and regional and international matters. This visit marks the first time in two years and four months that a South Korean foreign minister has visited Russia since then-Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha's visit in June 2019.

As Russia, a party to the Six-Party Talks on North Korea's nuclear issue, has supported a "comprehensive and phased resolution" of the Korean Peninsula issue, it is highly likely that the Korean Peninsula issue will be a focal point of the foreign ministers' talks. Earlier, on the 14th, Noh Kyu-duk, South Korea's chief negotiator for North Korea's nuclear issue and head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Office, visited Moscow and discussed the Korean Peninsula issue with Igor Morgulov, Russia's deputy foreign minister and chief negotiator.

After the talks, Minister Chung will also jointly attend the closing ceremony of the "2020-2021 Korea-Russia Year of Mutual Exchange" held in Moscow on the 27th local time with Minister Lavrov.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official stated, "Our foreign minister's visit to Russia is expected to serve as an opportunity to strengthen strategic communication with Russia, a key partner in the New Northern Policy, and to further deepen the friendly cooperative relationship."