China, Japan, SK Leaders To Hold Meeting @ 'Convenient Time'-MoFA

(MNI) London - Spox for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wang Wenbin stated on 26 Sep that the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea agreed to hold a summit 'at a convenient time' for all three countries. Wang stated that 'The countries agreed that they should push forward new progress and make new contributions to regional peace, stability and prosperity via trilateral cooperation'.

• The three agreed that there would be a tripartite meeting of foreign ministers in the coming months, which is likely to serve as a precursor to any leaders' summit.
• The comments come after South Korea hosted senior diplomats from China and Japan earlier today. South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won, Japanese Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi, and Nong Rong, China's assistant minister of foreign affairs were all in attendance. Japan's TBS reports that South Korea proposed December as a month for the leaders' summit.
• Following the historic summit of Japanese PM Fumio Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and US President Joe Biden at Camp David in August, Japan and South Korea are seen as keen to show Beijing that their increasingly close ties to the US and one another do not mean a full disengagement from China.
• For Japan and South Korea, maintaining cordial relations with Beijing contributes to a stable security and economic environment in northeast Asia. Working with Beijing is also likely to aid Seoul and Tokyo's efforts to limit the development of North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.