After the General Election... A Series of Major Summits Surrounding 'Korean Peninsula Security'

May Russia-China, Russia-North Korea, Korea-China-Japan Summits
'Korea-US-Japan vs North Korea-China-Russia' Rivalry Intensifies
Focus on China's Position at Next Month's Korea-China-Japan Meeting

On October 17 last year, at the opening of the 3rd Belt and Road International Cooperation Summit Forum in Beijing, China, Russian President Vladimir Putin is having a conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Following the April 10 general election, a series of major summits concerning security on the Korean Peninsula are expected to take place consecutively. Starting with the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin next month, summits involving North Korea-Russia, South Korea-China-Japan, and South Korea-US-Japan are likely, with the possibility of a North Korea-Japan summit depending on circumstances.

According to diplomatic sources on the 9th, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit China for two days on the 8th and 9th (local time). During his visit, coordination is expected for President Putin’s upcoming visit to China next month. Having secured a fifth term in the recent presidential election, President Putin is expected to visit Beijing after his inauguration on the 7th of next month.

The China-Russia summit could also pave the way for a North Korea-Russia summit. President Putin had already accepted an invitation from North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un to visit Pyongyang during the North Korea-Russia summit held in Russia last September.

If the North Korea-Russia summit follows the China-Russia meeting, cooperation among North Korea, China, and Russia is expected to become even stronger. At the summit between US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington D.C. on the 10th, the security alliance targeting China and Russia is expected to be reinforced, so North Korea, China, and Russia may also present countermeasures.

President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are taking a commemorative photo after concluding the Korea-Japan summit roundtable held at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, California, USA, on November 17 last year (local time). [Image source=Yonhap News]

In particular, a South Korea-China-Japan summit is scheduled to take place in Seoul at the end of next month. Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol met with Lee Hee-seop, Secretary-General of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS), the day before and said, "We are finalizing the schedule among the three countries." Given the increasingly intense confrontation between South Korea-China-Japan and North Korea-China-Russia, attention is focused on what stance China will take at this meeting.

In July, a South Korea-US-Japan summit is also being coordinated around the NATO summit held in Washington D.C. The main agenda items among the three countries will include strengthening defense postures, expanding cybersecurity cooperation, and responding to North Korea-Russia military cooperation.