Johannesburg: Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul is set to travel to South Africa later this week to participate in the Group of 20 foreign ministers’ meeting, his office confirmed on Monday. Attention is focused on the potential meeting between Cho and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Cho will attend the two-day gathering in Johannesburg, starting Thursday, with plans for bilateral discussions with some counterparts from participating countries. Cho’s departure is scheduled for Tuesday.

A key point of interest is whether Cho will engage in talks with Wang on the sidelines of the meeting, as Wang is also expected to be present. If the meeting occurs, it will be the first between the two ministers since the political crisis in South Korea following the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol due to his martial law attempt.

This engagement would follow Cho’s recent discussions with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and their trilateral meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya in Germany last week. However, diplomatic sources suggest the likelihood of Cho meeting Wang may be low. Speculation is that Wang might visit South Korea either before or after traveling to Japan for the upcoming trilateral meeting with Cho and Iwaya in Tokyo next month.