Ambassador To US-SK Looks To Engage w/China Soon

South Korea's Ambassador to the United States Cho Hyun-dong has stated that 'South Korea will make [an] effort to engage with China soon, [and] will also seek [an] opportunity for trilateral cooperation with Japan and China.'

• Cho speaking at a CSIS event, livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NTkbVxcCsQ
• Cho's comments echo those of South Korean Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, who also spoke of trilateral cooperation at a meeting with his Chinese and Japanese couterparts earlier this week on the sidelines of an Asian Development Bank meeting in Incheon, South Korea.
• The South Korean gov't has shown strong willingness to work more closely with the US and Japan on defence and security issues recently, while President Yoon Suk-yeol's state visit to the US was intended to cement this bond.
• However, China remains the major export market for South Korean goods and maintaining at least cordial relations with Beijing is clearly still an objective for Seoul.