Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul will visit China early next week for talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, the foreign ministry said Friday, marking the first trip to Beijing by a South Korean top diplomat in more than six years.

Cho’s two-day trip to Beijing from Monday through Tuesday comes as South Korea faces the task of managing the relationship with China that has soured amid Seoul’s strong alignment with the United States under the Yoon Suk Yeol government.

It will mark the first visit to China by a South Korean foreign minister since November 2017, when then Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha paid a visit during the administration of then President Moon Jae-in.

His visit also comes ahead of a widely expected trilateral summit among the leaders of South Korea, China and Japan that Seoul seeks to capitalize on to boost the three-way cooperation with its Asian neighbors. The summit is most likely to take place from May 26-27.

Source: Yonhap News Agency