China, South Korea and Japan to hold talks over trilateral summit

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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (centre), President of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Lee Myung-bak (left) and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (right) prepare to shake hands during the Fifth Trilateral Summit Meeting among China, the ROK and Japan at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 13, 2012. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 3:31am, 9 Sep 2015

South Korea, Japan and China plan to hold talks on September 15 in Seoul to discuss realising a trilateral summit and other issues of interest, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

"The talks among deputy director-general level officials will be held at the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat in Seoul on September 15 to discuss preparing for the sixth trilateral summit among South Korea, Japan and China," ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il said.

The announcement follows the agreement by China and South Korea last week at a summit in Beijing to realise a trilateral summit with Japan by late October at the earliest.

South Korea's foreign ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il delivers a speech urging Japan to make more efforts to resolve bilateral disputes stemming from shared history at the ministry headquarters in Seoul, South Korea in August. Photo: Xinhua

The annual three-way summit has been suspended since the last one was held in Beijing in May, 2012, mainly because China and South Korea perceive Japan as not having done enough to atone for its atrocities before and during the second world war.

South Korea holds the rotating chair of the trilateral framework.

The secretariat was launched in September, 2011 as an inter-governmental organisation to bolster efforts for trilateral cooperation as a result of a deal reached at the third South Korea, Japan and China summit held in 2010 at South Korea's southern island of Jeju.