“The Ministry of Unification estimated that North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui’s visit to China was aimed at coordinating with China on response strategies ahead of the expected South Korea-China and US-China summits next month in South Korea.
During a meeting with reporters today (30th), a Ministry of Unification official speculated that Foreign Minister Choe’s intention in visiting China was for communication with China, considering that Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit South Korea for the APEC summit and hold summits with South Korea and the US.
There is also a possibility that Foreign Minister Choe asked Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their meetings not to include ‘North Korea’s denuclearization’ in the outcome documents of the summits with South Korea and the US.
The official considered it unlikely that President Xi’s attendance at the North Korean Workers’ Party’s founding day parade (October 10th) was coordinated.
This is because the highest-ranking Chinese leaders have never visited North Korea for the party’s founding day, and a North Korea-China summit was already held earlier this month, making another meeting unlikely.
Foreign Minister Choe has been visiting Beijing since the 27th and will return today (30th).
For this visit, Foreign Minister Choe used a private plane, which could be seen as evidence of Chairman Kim Jong-un’s important perception of this trip.
[Photo Source: Yonhap News / Korean Central News Agency]”