Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visits South Korea

Immediately after US President Donald Trump's rhetorical attacks on South Korea, the Chinese foreign minister is visiting the country for the first time in five years. Wang Yi will be in Seoul on Wednesday and Thursday, a South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday. In addition to South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, he will also meet President Lee Jae-myung. The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not initially confirm the visit.

The visit comes during a 10-day military exercise between South Korea and the United States that has been underway since Monday. At the beginning of the week, Trump ordered the Pentagon to significantly reduce the size. It was “too late” to cancel it. He said the exercise was an "inappropriate and hostile signal" towards North Korea and was funded primarily by the United States. He gets along great with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un. In addition, President Lee did not help him with the denuclearization of Iran.

Many observers accuse Trump of alienating long-standing allies with his attacks and opening up new geopolitical opportunities for China. The visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister to Seoul only reinforces this impression. However, the visit had been planned for a long time; the first reports from South Korean media appeared at the end of July.

In South Korea, the visit is seen more in the context of a speech that Lee gave over the weekend. In it, he suggested new talks with North Korea and suggested a common multilateral format for the “affected parties”. By this he probably means China, the United States, North and South Korea. Wang's visit will focus on "the situation on the Korean peninsula as well as regional and international issues," said the Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Relations between China and South Korea have long been strained following the deployment of a US missile defense system nearly a decade ago. China sharply criticized its development and then significantly restricted the distribution of Korean films, series and music in the People's Republic. South Korea's Lee is seeking to ease relations without turning away from Japan or the United States. At the beginning of the year he was with a large business delegation in the People's Republic and took selfies with state and party leader Xi Jinping and his wife.

Recently, diplomatic relations on the peninsula have been in flux. North Korea managed to improve relations with Russia, primarily by sending North Korean soldiers to fight on Russia's side in the Ukraine War. As a result, Xi increased his efforts on North Korea again and traveled to the neighboring country in June for the first time in seven years.