China confirms Xi will meet South Korea’s Park during G20 summit

The Chinese government confirmed Thursday that President Xi Jinping and his South Korean counterpart Park Geunhye will hold a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit that will be held in the eastern city of Hangzhou on Sept. 4 and Sept. 5.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the ministry was still working on the finer details of the meeting, without elaborating further.

She did not confirm whether the two leaders would take part in tripartite talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as was rumored in recent media reports.

China and South Korea have drawn closer in recent years due to North Korean nuclear threats, although the US plan to deploy its antimissile THAAD system on South Korean territory is seen as a threat by Beijing.

Besides Park, Xi has also been confirmed to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Barack Obama, and Argentine President Mauricio Macri.

Hua said that China would welcome all guests and that bilateral meetings with other leaders were still under preparation.

The spokesperson told EFE that China “is willing” to encourage a meeting between Xi and Spain’s acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who will also attend the summit.