IRIA News

The foreign ministers of China, Japan, and South Korea held their first in-person talks in more than four years in the South Korean port city of Busan. They agreed to lay the foundation for the first leaders’ summit in four years, setting aside the regional tensions.

Meeting after a four-year hiatus, the top diplomats from China, South Korea, and Japan, agreed on November 26, 2023, to revive cooperation among the Asian neighbors in diverse domains, especially economic cooperation and security.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, and South Korea’s Park Jin spent around 100 minutes in talks that focused on a broad range of issues. They agreed to expand cooperation in science and technology, economy and trade, sustainable development, health, security, and people-to-people exchange.

Wang Yi emphasized the significance of respecting diverse developmental paths and urged the three nations to reinitiate talks on a China-Japan-ROK free trade agreement, ensuring the continuation of regional economic integration. Chinese foreign minister stressed the need for enhanced collaboration in cutting-edge scientific and technological domains, including big data, blockchain, and artificial intelligence. He underscored the importance of joint efforts to uphold the stability of industrial and supply chains among China, Japan, and the ROK.

This trilateral meeting was the first between the three foreign ministers since 2019. Beijing, Seoul, and Tokyo had agreed to hold annual summits since 2008 to bolster diplomatic and economic exchanges, but regional tensions and the COVID pandemic disrupted plans.

Expected trilateral leaders’ summit

The top diplomats of South Korea, China, and Japan agreed to expedite preparations to resume the long-stalled summit among the leaders of the three countries at an “earliest, mutually convenient”. Chinese President Xi Jinping, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would possibly meet early next year, diplomats said without sharing a specific timing of the expected meeting.

The three ministers “reaffirmed the agreement to hold the summit, the pinnacle of the trilateral cooperation system, at the earliest, mutually convenient time and agreed to accelerate the preparations necessary for the summit,” South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin told reporters. Park added that the three countries shared the understanding that resuming the three-way summit is “vital to the restoration and normalization of the tripartite cooperation.”

China, Japan and the South Korea on Sunday agreed to create conditions for a leaders’ meeting as foreign ministers of the three countries met in the South Korean port city of Busan.https://t.co/KVMMZqUGSX pic.twitter.com/8fweQyQLw9

— CCTV+ (@CCTV_Plus) November 27, 2023

“The three sides agreed to create conditions for the China-Japan-South Korea leaders’ meeting,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Speaking at the 10th China-Japan-ROK Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, China’s Wang Yi said the trilateral cooperation has “a solid foundation, robust demand, huge potential, and broad prospects”.

North Korea issue

Pyongyang, which has recently put its first spy satellite into orbit incorporating banned ballistic missile technology, was also on the agenda. The three diplomats discussed the latest developments related to North Korea.

Japanese Minister Kamikawa called for firm efforts for the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, including through the full implementation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions.” He also asked for continued understanding and cooperation from China and the ROK toward the immediate resolution of the decades-long abductions issue. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has recently intensified efforts to bring back dozens of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang in the 1970s and 1980s.

The China-Japan-South Korea rare summit was seen as an attempt by the neighbors to ease regional tensions heightened by North Korea’s weapons program. The three gathered to discuss mutual concerns despite China’s growing regional military assertiveness and Japan and South Korea’s deepening security ties with the United States.

In comments apparently aimed at security cooperation between Seoul, Tokyo, and Washington, the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, urged the three countries to “oppose ideological demarcation and resist putting regional cooperation into camps”.

During the discussions, the South Korean diplomat sought China’s constructive role in encouraging North Korea to denuclearize. However, several regional experts doubt Beijing’s ability to convince North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to give up nuclear ambitions.

China urges three countries to uphold peace and de-escalate tensions

The Chinese foreign minister underscored the need for the three nations to play a stabilizing role in upholding regional peace and security. He advocated for the application of a collective, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security approach while emphasizing the resolution of differences through peaceful dialogue and consultation.

Additionally, Wang urged joint efforts to alleviate tensions in critical areas, highlighting the detriment of prolonged tensions on the Korean Peninsula. “The continued tension on the Korean Peninsula is not in the interests of any party,” Wang said. “The top priority is to cool down the situation, create necessary conditions for restarting dialogue, and to this end, take meaningful actions.”

The three diplomats also engaged in discussions regarding regional, and global matters of mutual concern including the Middle East crisis and Russia-Ukraine war.