China - Japan - South Korea agree to resume trilateral summit

Trung - Nhật - Hàn nhất trí nối lại thượng đỉnh 3 bên - 1 — South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin (center) with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa before a trilateral meeting in Busan, South Korea on November 26 (Photo: Yonhap).

The three top diplomats met on November 26 in the South Korean port of Busan, the first such trilateral meeting at the foreign minister level since 2019.

The three foreign ministers did not specify the timing of the trilateral summit.

South Korean national security adviser Cho Tae Yong told Yonhap that President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol may not meet this year, but the meeting could take place in the near future.

Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo have agreed to hold annual summits since 2008 to boost diplomatic and economic exchanges, but diplomatic rows and the Covid-19 pandemic have disrupted the process since 2019.

In a statement on November 26, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said that after a 100-minute meeting, the three foreign ministers agreed to promote cooperation in six areas, including security, economy and technology, and promote specific discussions to prepare for the summit.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa pointed out that strengthening trilateral cooperation would contribute to regional peace as the international security situation becomes "more serious and complicated than ever".

Meanwhile, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, who expressed concerns over North Korean issues, told his counterparts that "it is important to further institutionalize trilateral cooperation so that it develops into a stable and sustainable system," the South Korean Foreign Ministry said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also affirmed that the three countries should play an active role in promoting regional and global development with "more progressive attitudes and behaviors".

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