SEOUL: The leaders of South Korea, Japan and China will hold their first trilateral summit in more than four years in Seoul on May 26-27, South Korea’s presidential office said on Thursday. South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol will have bilateral meetings with Chinese PM Li Qiang and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on May 26, ahead of their three-way meeting the following day, according to South Korean deputy national security advisor Kim Tae-hyo.
The three leaders will also adopt a joint statement on six areas including the economy and trade after the summit, he told the reporters. They had agreed to hold a summit every year starting in 2008 to enhance regional cooperation, but the initiative was disrupted by bilateral disputes and the Covid-19 epidemic. Their last trilateral meeting was in late 2019.
The summit comes as Japan and South Korea have been working to enhance relations strained by historical issues while deepening a trilateral security partnership with the US amid intensifying US-China rivalry.
China has earlier warned that the US efforts to further elevate relations with Tokyo and Seoul could stoke tension and confrontation at regional level.
