The diplomatic chiefs of South Korea, Japan and China reiterated on Sunday the need for a trilateral summit “as soon as possible,” South Korea’s foreign minister announced after a joint meeting.
Park Jin, Yoko Kamikawa and Wang Yi met in Busan, South Korea’s major southern port, at a time when Beijing is worried about Tokyo and Seoul’s strengthening ties with Washington.
This also comes days after Pyongyang placed its first military spy satellite into orbit, leading to the suspension of the military agreement reached five years ago between the two Koreas that sought to ease tensions on the peninsula.
A summit between South Korea, Japan and China was the main topic on the meeting’s agenda.
Ministers agreed that “this summit, the culmination of the trilateral cooperation system, should be held as soon as possible once a suitable time is found for all three,” Mr Park said.
“We have agreed to accelerate the necessary preparations,” he added, without giving a specific deadline.
The leaders of the three countries have not met since 2019, partly due to historical issues between Seoul and Tokyo, which colonized the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945.
One of the main problems remains the fact that women were forced to become sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II.
Historians say up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea but also from other Asian countries including China, were kidnapped or forced.
On Thursday, a South Korean court ordered Japan to compensate 16 of the women.
At a bilateral meeting with her South Korean counterpart before the meeting began, the Japanese minister called the verdict “extremely regrettable” and called on Seoul to correct this “violation of international law.”
For his part, the South Korean minister called on his Chinese counterpart for Beijing to play a “constructive role” in North Korea’s denuclearization, calling the recent North Korean satellite launch a serious threat to his country’s security.
Beijing is Seoul’s most important trading partner, but also Pyongyang’s most important ally and economic supporter.
According to a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry, Wang said China has “always played and will continue to play a constructive role” in easing the situation in the region.
Faced with growing threats from his northern neighbor, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is seeking to strengthen ties with Washington and has also vowed to bury the hatchet with Japan.