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South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha

A scheduled South Korea visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping could be impacted if the novel coronavirus situation is not overcome quickly, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on Mar. 3.

In a written report to President Moon Jae-in that day on its “2020 major project implementation plan,” MOFA said that it was pursuing full-scale diplomatic negotiations with governments overseas to loosen excessive entry restrictions on South Koreans in connection with the coronavirus and to prevent new restrictions from being imposed.

“At the moment, we have no choice but to focus all of our diplomatic capabilities on overcoming the coronavirus situation,” a MOFA senior official said.

Crucially, the current diplomatic schedule could have to be adjusted as the efforts of the coronavirus situation persist -- which stands to impact Xi’s visit to South Korea during the first half of the year.

“In the Japanese media, there have been reports of a planned April visit to Japan by Xi being postponed,” the senior official noted.

“If this situation cannot be overcome quickly, I think [Xi’s South Korea visit] could be affected,” the official predicted.

In terms of the Korean Peninsula peace process, MOFA reported that it was working to establish an international climate where progress in inter-Korean relations can be connected with inter-Korean and North Korea-US denuclearization dialogue, while also continuing to send Pyongyang calls for it to refrain from provocations and agree to dialogue. In the area of South Korea-US relations, it announced that it would be managing alliance issues through strategic communication, working in particular to achieve a harmonious resolution to the currently troubled negotiations on the 11th South Korea-US Special Measures Agreement (SMA) on defense cost-sharing.

Regarding the question of whether Moon would be attending the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, a MOFA official said, “There is no policy within the administration as yet regarding what to do about the Tokyo Olympics.”

“Considering that [Japanese] Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to [the Winter Olympics in] Pyeongchang, I personally think that if one of our neighbors is having an event like that, it’s good for [the head of state] to visit and offer congratulations,” the official added.

By Kim So-youn, staff reporter

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