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| ▲ South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won (C), Japanese Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi (L) and Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Nong Rong pose for a photo prior to a high-level meeting at a Seoul hotel on Sept. 26, 2023, to discuss three-way cooperation and explore the possibility of resuming the long-stalled summit of their leaders. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin (2nd from R) poses for a photo with a delegation of the South Korea-Japan-China Senior Officials' Meeting on Sept. 25, 2023. From left are South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won; Takehiro Funakoshi, Japan's senior deputy foreign minister; Park; and Nong Rong, China's assistant minister of foreign affairs. (Yonhap) |
(2nd LD) S Korea-China-Japan-talks
(2nd LD) S. Korea, China, Japan agree to hold tripartite summit at earliest convenient time
(ATTN: CHANGES headline, lead; UPDATES throughout)
SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea, China and Japan held a high-level meeting Tuesday and agreed to resume their long-stalled trilateral summit at the earliest convenient time, the foreign ministry said.
The countries held a trilateral senior officials' meeting in Seoul earlier in the day, which brought together South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won; Takehiro Funakoshi, Japan's senior deputy foreign minister; and Nong Rong, China's assistant minister of foreign affairs.
The meeting was arranged to discuss the resumption of a trilateral cooperation mechanism between the neighboring countries, including the possibility of the revival of three-way summits, which have remained dormant since 2019.
"During the high-level meeting held this morning among South Korea, Japan and China, the three countries agreed to hold a trilateral summit at the earliest mutually convenient time and to promptly convene a meeting of the foreign ministers from each country to prepare for the summit," Lim Soo-suk, spokesperson for the ministry, told a regular press briefing.
On Monday, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin met with the three officials and asked them to "work closely together" and "to produce tangible outcomes, which will produce benefits that can be felt by the people of the three countries."
Three-way summits among the three neighbors -- first held in December 2008 -- have been suspended since 2019 following a dispute between South Korea and Japan over forced labor compensation rulings and the pandemic.
Talks on the need to revive tripartite summit diplomacy have surfaced following a thaw in the frozen ties between Seoul and Tokyo since the launch of the current South Korean administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol in May of last year.
As the current chair of the trilateral cooperation mechanism, South Korea has been pushing to host the summit within the year.
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