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Kyodo

Japan, China and South Korea held their first ministerial-level meeting on trade in 3½ years on Friday, focusing on ways to promote regional economic cooperation and on negotiations for a free trade agreement.
 The meeting in Seoul brought together Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Motoo Hayashi, China international trade representative Zhong Shan and South Korea’s Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Yoon Sang Jick.
 The ministers also plan to discuss how to push negotiations forward on a 16-nation free trade grouping, the regional comprehensive economic partnership, according to Japanese officials.
 It involves Australia, New Zealand and India, plus the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
 The talks come as South Korea has expressed willingness to join the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, a newly agreed free trade initiative involving 12 Pacific Rim economies including Japan.
 China is not a member of the group, which represents part of the US strategic “rebalance” towards Asia.
 The meeting precedes a summit of Japan, China and South Korea on Sunday in Seoul, which will also be the first such gathering in 3½  years.
READ MORE: Ready to get along? Japanese defence minister's visit to South Korea indicates slight thaw in relations between key US allies
 Such top-level meetings have been suspended since May 2012 due to disputes between Japan and its two neighbours over territory and perceptions of its attitude towards its wartime history.
 The three countries account for about 20 per cent of the world economy.
 The three economies agreed to launch negotiations on a trace pact at a summit held in May 2012 in Beijing.
 The foreign ministers of the three countries agreed in March this year to push forward with the talks.
 


China, Japan, South Korea hold first top-level trade talks in over three years amid thaw in ties

Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama speaks to reporters in Seoul ahead of a summit between South Korea, Japan and China on Sunday. Photo: Kyodo

Ready to get along? Japanese defence minister's visit to South Korea indicates slight thaw in relations between key US allies

Japan's Gen Nakatani. Photo: Kyodo

South Korea's Han Min-koo (right). Photo: AFP

South Korea’s Park Geun-hye to hold first one-on-one summit with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe

South Korean President Park Geun-hye met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a meeting with US President Barack Obama last year. Photo: AP

FILE - In this March 25, 2014 file photo, South Korean President Park Geun-hye, right, shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, as U.S. President Barack Obama looks on before their trilateral meeting at the U.S. Ambassador's Residence in the Hague, Netherlands. Only days before leaders from South Korea, Japan and China are to gather in Seoul, the event has still not yet been formally settled, with the South Korean and Japanese foreign ministries publicly dodging questions even as diplomats leak barbed tidbits to reporters behind the scenes. (Do Kwang-hwan/Yonhap via AP, FIle) KOREA OUT

(151023) -- BEIJING, Oct. 23, 2015 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang gives a lecture at the Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 23, 2015. Innovative thinking on macroeconomic regulation and reform are essential to promoting economic growth and industrial upgrading, Li said Friday. 
 (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) (dhf)

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye delivers an annual budget address at the National Assembly in Seoul on October 27, 2015. Park vowed to strengthen South Korea's defence capabilities -- backed by a defence budget hike -- to guard against future provocations from North Korea. AFP PHOTO / JUNG YEON-JE

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