JAPAN, CHINA, SOUTH KOREA AGREE TO PROMOTE "FUTURE-ORIENTED" COOPERATION

TOKYO, March 22 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- The top diplomats of Japan, China and South Korea agreed on Saturday to promote "future-oriented" cooperation during their meeting in Tokyo, amid growing uncertainty over global trade and security following US President Donald Trump's return to the White House.

Kyodo News reported Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said after the trilateral talks that he and his Chinese and South Korean counterparts, Wang Yi and Cho Tae Yul, also decided to accelerate preparations to hold a summit "as early as possible and at an appropriate time," which would follow one held last year.

"It is extremely important for the three countries...to promote future-oriented exchanges and cooperation, and guide the region and the international community from division to cooperation," Iwaya said at a joint press announcement.

At the outset of the meeting, Wang expressed his readiness to build three-way collaborative relations, saying China will "constantly unearth the potential for cooperation."

But he also fired a warning shot at Japan on historical issues, saying this year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of what China refers to as the 1937-1945 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

"The future can only be created after sincerely reflecting on history," the Chinese foreign minister said.

On Russia's war against Ukraine, Iwaya reiterated Japan's position that "unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force should not be tolerated anywhere in the world" and expressed concern about North Korea's military cooperation with Russia.

He also said North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile development programmes are a source for concern and called for cooperation to resolve the issue of Pyongyang's abductions of Japanese nationals decades ago.

Cho said the three nations should make efforts to realise the "complete denuclearisation" of North Korea.

Japan has seen an improvement in ties with both China and South Korea, despite disputes over wartime history and territory.

The countries last held a trilateral foreign ministerial meeting in the South Korean port city of Busan in November 2023, and a summit in Seoul in May 2024.

China is grappling with a prolonged property sector crisis, while South Korea is mired in a political crisis as President Yoon Suk Yeol awaits an impeachment verdict following his brief imposition of martial law in December.

Trump's second term that started in January has added a new twist to bilateral and trilateral cooperation among the three Asian nations, with the specter of an intensifying trade war and rivalry between Beijing and Washington. Japan and South Korea are US allies.

During the previous three-way summit, then Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Yoon agreed to accelerate negotiations toward the signing of a trilateral free trade pact, while confirming the importance of North Korean denuclearisation.

Before then, the countries had not held a trilateral summit since December 2019, mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic and disputes between Japan and South Korea over wartime labour and territorial issues, according to Kyodo.

Senior officials of the three countries affirmed at a meeting in Tokyo in October last year that they would continue discussions on mutually beneficial cooperative projects in six areas, including economic cooperation, human exchanges and disaster relief.

-- BERNAMA-KYODO