South Korea said its foreign minister will meet with his counterparts from Japan and China in the port city of Busan on Sunday, setting the stage for the countries' first leaders' summit in four years.
Friday's announcement of the trilateral foreign ministerial meeting came amid a thaw in Japan-South Korea ties, long marred by wartime issues, while Beijing's relations with Tokyo and Seoul, both U.S. security allies, remain strained.
The three nations last held a summit among their leaders in December 2019 and an in-person foreign ministerial meeting in August of that year, both in China.
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and his Japanese and Chinese counterparts, Yoko Kamikawa and Wang Yi, will attend the upcoming talks.
In preparation for what will be their ninth trilateral summit since 2008, the three countries are expected to exchange views on the direction and development of mutual cooperation as well as regional and international matters, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said.
In late September, senior officials from the three nations affirmed at a meeting in Seoul that they aim to hold a foreign ministers' meeting "in the next few months," and a summit "as early as possible."
South Korea currently serves as the rotating chair of the trilateral framework and is seeking to host the summit, which usually follows working-level discussions and foreign ministerial talks, by the end of this year.
On the sidelines of the trilateral gathering, Kamikawa is arranging bilateral meetings with Wang on Saturday afternoon and with Park on Sunday morning, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
It will be the first time Kamikawa has met Wang bilaterally since she was named foreign minister in mid-September.
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