Yesterday-today high-level meeting of the three countries in Seoul
Coordination of summit agenda, including North Korea-Russia cooperation
The government began two days of working-level and high-level consultations in Seoul from the 25th regarding the Korea-China-Japan summit, which is expected to be held in Seoul within the year. In this consultation, the three countries agree on the need to quickly hold the Korea-China-Japan summit, which has been suspended for about four years, and are also expected to confirm the schedule for the three countries’ foreign ministers’ meeting to coordinate detailed schedules and agendas.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeong Byeong-won will hold a high-level meeting (SOM) of the foreign affairs authorities of the three countries with Takehiro Funakoshi, Foreign Affairs Director of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Nong Rong, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 26th. Prior to that, on the 25th, a three-way deputy director-level meeting was held in the form of bilateral consultations between the Deputy Foreign Ministers of Korea, Japan, and Korea and China, as well as preliminary working-level consultations for SOM. Full-scale discussions began ahead of the trilateral summit.
The Korea-China-Japan summit has been held once a year with each country taking turns since 2008 during the Lee Myung-bak administration, but the last meeting was held in Chengdu, China in December 2019 due to the aftermath of the novel coronavirus infection and the deterioration of Korea-Japan relations.
The government believes that there is a high possibility that the summit will be held around December this year. A high-ranking government official said, “If a trilateral summit is held, the leaders of the three countries are expected to strengthen their resolve to make the summit ‘regular’.” As is customary in China, Premier Li Chang is expected to attend.
However, a government official said, “It will be difficult to confirm the summit schedule during these two days of consultation.” First of all, the priority is to coordinate the schedule to hold the foreign ministers’ meeting as soon as possible. It is reported that the three countries will also coordinate rough agendas expected to be covered at the trilateral summit, including recent North Korea-Russia military cooperation and global supply chain issues, through SOM on the 26th. Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin said in a meeting with SOM representatives from Korea, China, and Japan on the 25th, “Korea, Japan, and China are close neighbors and can never be separated from each other,” and added, “Expectations and public interest for the revitalization of the trilateral cooperation mechanism are growing.” He emphasized.
Source: Donga
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