SEOUL: The foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea met in the port city of Busan on Sunday, seeking to restart trilateral cooperation among the Asian neighbours and pave the way for a summit of their three leaders at the earliest.

Even as China and the United States mend frayed ties, including a summit this month of their leaders Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, Beijing is concerned that Washington and its key regional allies are strengthening their partnership.

Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo had agreed on annual summits from 2008 to bolster diplomatic and economic exchanges, but two-way rows and the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted the plan, with the three leaders last meeting in 2019.

The three top diplomats met in Busan for their first such meeting since 2019, after officials of the three countries had agreed in September to arrange a trilateral summit at the “earliest convenient time”.

China renews push for free trade talks resumption

While the three ministers did not specify a timeframe for the summit, South Korea’s national security adviser Cho Tae-yong told Yonhap news TV that South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, his Chinese counterpart Xi, Japanese premier Fumio Kishida may not be able to meet this year, but their summit is likely in the “near future”.

The ministers agreed in their 100-minute talks to advance cooperation in six areas, including security, economy and technology, and prepare for the summit, Japan’s foreign min­istry said in a statement.

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, who was also concerned about North Korean issues, told his counterparts it was “important to further institutionalise trilateral cooperation so that it will develop into a stable and sustainable system”, his ministry stated.

China’s Wang Yi said the three countries should “oppose ideological demarcation and resist putting regional cooperation into camps”, in comments aim­ed at Seoul and Tokyo’s alliance with Washington.

Wang also called on the three states to restart talks on a trilateral free trade agreement as soon as possible.

Japan’s Yoko Kamikawa said greater trilateral cooperation would contribute to regional peace as the international security situation has become “more severe and complex than ever”.

However, 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.

Marring the co-operative tone, Kamikawa described as “extremely regrettable” a South Kor­ean court’s order for Japan to compensate a group of women forced to work in its wartime brothels and asked Seoul to take appropriate measures, Japan’s Kyodo news agency said.

Park, meeting separately with China’s Wang, invited him to visit Seoul, and they agreed to reinforce strategic communications, Seoul said. Park asked for China to play a constructive role in encouraging N. Korea to avoid further provocations and work towards denuclearisation.

Beijing’s foreign ministry said Wang warned Park not to politicise economic and technology issues, amid China-US tension over semiconductors and other trade disputes.

Kamikawa in a meeting with Wang expressed hope for a security dialogue between Tokyo and Beijing “in the near future”. Wang highlighted the need for China and Japan to ensure they “do not pose a threat” to each another and respect the legitimate concerns of each, Beijing said.

South Korea’s Yoon and Japan’s Kishida have moved to mend ties, holding a historic three-way summit in August with Biden. Earlier in July, Wang had warned US efforts to boost ties with Seoul and Tokyo could fan regional tension and spark confrontation.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2023