TOKYO: Senior diplomats from Japan, China and South Korea plan to hold talks in Seoul, possibly on September 25, despite a dispute between Tokyo and Beijing over the release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, diplomatic sources said.
It is hoped that the planned working-level talks will pave the way for the resumption of the annual trilateral summits, which have been suspended since 2019. Japan is to be represented by Takehiro Funakoshi, senior vice foreign minister, the sources said.
As relations between Japan and South Korea improve, tensions between Tokyo and Beijing have been renewed after the discharge of treated water from a nuclear power plant began late last month.
China opposes the discharge and has called on Japan to stop the discharge of what it calls “nuclear-contaminated water”. In protest, China imposed a blanket ban on Japanese seafood imports, prompting Japan to respond to the measure by calling for its scrapping.
South Korea, which has chaired the trilateral framework since 2020, is seeking to hold a trilateral summit by the end of this year, in an apparent bid to maintain high-level dialogue between the countries and promote cooperation on regional issues, including North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
The leaders of the three neighboring countries last met for a trilateral meeting in China in December 2019.
