The foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea yesterday agreed to restart cooperation and pave the way for a summit of their three leaders in the latest move to ease tensions in the key region.
“Korea, Japan and China have the potential for massive cooperation. Our three countries are neighbors that can’t be separated from one another,” South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin said at the start of the meeting in Busan, South Korea. “I hope we can strive together to hold the South Korea-Japan-China summit, which is at the apex of three-way cooperation, at an early date.”
Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa and Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said they would also push to revive three-way cooperation.
Photo: Reuters
Even as Beijing and Washington mend frayed ties, including a summit this month between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Joe Biden, Beijing is concerned that the US and its key regional allies are strengthening their three-way partnership.
Xi, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol might not be able to meet this year, but their summit is likely in the near future, South Korean National Security Office Director Cho Tae-yong told Yonhap News TV.
The three ministers agreed in their 100-minute talks to advance cooperation in six areas, including security, economy and technology, and promote concrete discussions to prepare for the summit, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Park, who was also concerned about North Korean issues, told his counterparts it was “important to further institutionalize trilateral cooperation so that it will develop into a stable and sustainable system,” the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Wang said the three countries should play an active role in promoting regional and global development with a “more progressive manner and attitude,” while Kamikawa said greater trilateral cooperation would contribute to regional peace, as the international security situation has grown “more severe and complex than ever.”
In bilateral talks, Park and Kamikawa condemned North Korea’s launch last week of its first spy satellite and agreed to boost responses to arms deals between Pyongyang and Moscow, Seoul’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Marring the cooperative tone, Kamikawa described as “extremely regrettable” a South Korean court’s order for Japan to compensate women forced to work in its wartime brothels, Japan’s Kyodo News agency said.
Meeting separately, Park and Wang agreed to reinforce strategic communications, Seoul said.
However, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wang warned Park not to politicize economic and technology issues.
Additional reporting by AP
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