Message from President Yoon delivered by the Ambassador to China... To Xi Jinping, "Looking forward to your visit to Korea within this year"

Ambassador Jeong Jae-ho to China conveyed President Yoon Suk-yeol's message to Chinese President Xi Jinping expressing hope for a visit to Korea within the year.

President Yoon Suk-yeol (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping / Photo by Yonhap News

According to the Korean Embassy in China on the 25th, Ambassador Jeong presented President Yoon's credentials to President Xi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing the previous day.

At this occasion, Ambassador Jeong conveyed President Yoon's special regards to President Xi and expressed hope for the revitalization of high-level Korea-China exchanges through President Xi's visit to Korea within the year. He also requested continued attention and support for Korean companies operating in China. In response, President Xi welcomed Ambassador Jeong's appointment and wished him success in his endeavors.

The invitation for President Xi's visit to Korea is notable as it comes amid a chill in relations following President Yoon's recent interview with Reuters, where he declared opposition to any unilateral change of the status quo in the Taiwan Strait by force.

Since President Yoon's inauguration in May last year, the government has maintained the position that it is President Xi's turn to visit Korea in the sequence of high-level exchanges between the two countries' leaders.

The most recent visit by a Chinese head of state to Korea was President Xi's state visit in July 2014. Since then, Korean presidents have visited China a total of five times, including attendance at multilateral meetings hosted by China such as the G20 summits.

Previously, during former President Moon Jae-in's visit to China, President Xi promised to visit Korea, but the visit did not materialize due to the spread of COVID-19. Presidents Yoon and Xi held their first summit in November last year on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.