S. Korea, China, Japan in Talks to Hold Trilateral Summit around May 26-27: Report

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L to R) hold hands during a photo-op before their meeting at the Nurimaru APEC House in the southeastern city of Busan, in the file photo taken Nov. 26, 2023. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)

SEOUL, Apr. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea is in talks with China and Japan to hold a long-stalled trilateral summit of their leaders around May 26-27, a news report said Wednesday.

The three countries have entered into final consultations about holding the three-way summit in South Korea late next month, according to the Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun.

The trilateral summit was last held in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu in December 2019.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang are expected to visit Seoul to meet with President Yoon Suk Yeol as South Korea is the current rotating chair.

Seoul’s foreign ministry said last week that the three countries are in discussions to hold the summit at the “earliest time convenient” for all sides.

Japan’s Kyodo News earlier reported the three countries’ leaders will likely discuss economic cooperation and regional issues, such as North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, if the summit takes place.

The summit has been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and a deterioration in Seoul-Tokyo relations over the issue of compensating Korean victims of forced labor during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Talks of reviving the summit gained momentum amid a dramatic warming of the Seoul-Tokyo relations after South Korea said in March last year it will compensate the Korean victims on its own without asking for contributions from Japanese companies.

(Yonhap)