S.Korea, Japan, China discuss resuming trilateral summit in late May

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
5 May 2024 08:13

The last summit held between the three countries was in the Chinese city of Chengdu in December 2019.

The flags of South Korea, Japan, and China. (China Global Television Network)

South Korea, Japan, and China have agreed to hold a trilateral summit and are discussing the possibility of scheduling the event for May 26-27, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported citing a South Korean Foreign Ministry official.

"South Korea, Japan and China agreed to hold the summit at the earliest date convenient for all sides. We have been in consultations with Japan and China as the current chair country," the official was quoted as saying by the news agency on Saturday.

According to Yonhap, the last summit held between the three countries was in the Chinese city of Chengdu in December 2019.

The following summit was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the deterioration of relations between Japan and South Korea "over the issue of compensating Korean victims of forced labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula," it pointed out.

According to Seoul's figures, Japan forced some 780,000 Koreans into labor, not including women forced into sexual servitude, during its colonial rule.

Survivor groups have long demanded direct payments and an apology from Japan, which insists that the matter is closed under a 1965 treaty that restored relations. As part of the treaty, Japan provided $800 million in grants and cheap leans to South Korea as reparations.

But hopes for reviving the bilateral relations between Seoul and Tokyo and consequently the trilateral summit were boosted after South Korea said it plans to take money from major local companies that benefited from the 1965 treaty and use it to compensate victims.

Yonhap confirmed on Saturday that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang are expected to visit South Korean Seoul to meet with President Yoon Suk Yeol.

In late September 2023, Chinese and Japanese senior officials were hosted in South Korea and held a trilateral meeting along with South Korean officials, aimed at reassuring Beijing about the increased cooperation between Japan, South Korea, and the United States, and paving the way for the resumption of the aforementioned trilateral summit according to Reuters.