South Korea said Thursday that a trilateral summit involving Japan and China is scheduled to be held in Seoul on Monday, the first of its kind in more than four years amid an increasingly unstable regional security environment.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang are expected to discuss a wide range of topics, including people-to-people exchanges and economic cooperation.
At the meeting, set to take place for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, the three leaders are likely to exchange views on how to address issues related to North Korea, as Pyongyang has continued to develop nuclear weapons and missiles.
Kishida said in a speech in Tokyo later in the day that Japan, South Korea and China will "keep engaging in practical cooperation among the three nations that share a great responsibility for peace and prosperity in the region."
A Japanese government official said a joint statement emphasizing the importance of boosting economic ties among the three Asian countries is being arranged for release after the trilateral summit.
Yoon, Kishida and Li are set to meet days after China's military on Thursday started two-day drills around Taiwan as a "strong punishment" for those seeking the island's "independence" and a "stern warning" to "external forces" against interference and provocation.
The exercises followed Monday's inauguration of Taiwan's new President Lai Ching-te, whom China condemns as a separatist. He is the leader of the ruling, independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party.
It is uncertain whether Yoon, Kishida and Li will raise issues surrounding Taiwan, the official said. Taiwan and mainland China have been governed separately since they split as the result of a civil war in 1949. Beijing claims that Taiwan is part of China's "internal affairs."
The trilateral summit is supposed to be held annually on a rotating basis by the three nations, but it has occasionally been suspended due to a chill in Japan's relations with its two neighbors over historical and territorial disputes.
The summit was last held in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu in December 2019.
In Tokyo, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press conference that Kishida is slated to visit South Korea for two days from Sunday to participate in the trilateral summit and hold bilateral talks with Yoon.
On Sunday, Kishida and Yoon are certain to reaffirm the necessity of bolstering their security ties with the United States, said Hayashi, the top government spokesman. The two leaders last met in person in the United States in November 2023.
Since Yoon took office in May 2022, Japan-South Korea relations have been improving in the wake of South Korea's announcement in March last year of a solution to a long-standing wartime labor compensation dispute.
But fears are growing that bilateral ties could become frayed after the Japanese government said earlier this year that LY Corp., operator of the popular Line messaging app, relies too heavily on Naver Corp. of South Korea, a major shareholder of the Tokyo-based company, in the wake of a massive data breach at the firm.
With the government's call to review the capital relationship between LY and Naver triggering a backlash in South Korea, Kishida and Yoon may touch on the issue during their upcoming meeting, sources close to the matter said.
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