The foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and China committed this Sunday to “reestablish and normalize” cooperation as soon as possible.
During the first trilateral meeting of its kind in four years, held as a matter of urgency following the recent launch of a North Korean spy satellite, the heads of diplomacy of the three powers, Park Jin (South Korea), Yoko Kamikawa (Japan) and Wang Yi (China) met in the city of Busan, south of the Korean Peninsula, to share views on issues of common interest and try to coordinate the resumption of trilateral summits that have been suspended.
The three ministers committed to continue efforts to “guarantee the holding of a summit [trilateral] in the near future” and agreed to “accelerate the necessary preparations”Park said after the meeting, in statements published by the local Yonhap news agency.
Until a few years ago, South Korea, Japan and China had a cooperation mechanism to address the region’s challenges, which included regular meetings between their leaders, but the meetings were suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic and tensions. diplomatic talks between Seoul and Korea. Tokyo due to historical disputes.
The last trilateral summit between the three Asian countries took place in December 2019 in the Chinese city of Chengdu.
“It is important to institutionalize trilateral cooperation so that a stable and sustainable system can be developed,” Park told her counterparts at the beginning of the meeting, according to local media.
The meeting of foreign ministers takes place after the launch, last Tuesday, of North Korea’s first spy satellite, an event that gave special significance to the meeting, as tension increased on the peninsula and the region.
The ministers shared views on the issue and agreed to continue communicating at all levels to help resolve emerging issues related to Pyongyang, according to Park.
In a bilateral meeting between Park and Wang that same day, the Chinese foreign minister assured that Beijing will play a conciliatory role to help maintain stability in the region.
“China, Korea [do Sul] “And Japan must play a positive role in regional and global development with a more honest attitude,” stressed the Chinese minister at the beginning of the trilateral talks, also highlighting the “great potential” of relations in various fields, according to statements published by Yonhap. .
Minister Kamikawa highlighted that tripartite cooperation is becoming more important for its “great contribution to peace and prosperity” amid the “current growing risks” and stated that overcoming them “will depend on how we can collaborate on new ideas” from the starting point for reestablishing cooperation. .
In this sense, the three foreign ministers agreed to continue working to take exchanges in technology, public health, economy and trade, as well as between their citizens, one step further, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated in a statement of conclusions.
Park, Kamikawa and Wang also exchanged views on the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and hostage release, as well as the war in Ukraine, although no comments were initially communicated from the South Korean or Japanese sides during the meeting with the Minister. of Chinese Foreign Affairs. .
Source: TSF
