Lee Hyo-jin covers the Bank of Korea, the banking industry and broader financial news. Her previous beats include foreign affairs, North Korea and general reporting on Korean society.
S. Korea, Japan, China still in talks to set timeline for trilateral summit
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, center, poses with his Chinese and Japanese couterparts Wang Yi, left, and Yoko Kamikawa ahead of a trilateral meeting at Nurimaru APEC House in Busan, Sunday. Joint Press Corps
By Lee Hyo-jin
Foreign ministerial meeting held in Busan after 4-year hiatus
BUSAN — The foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and China vowed, Sunday, to arrange a summit of their leaders at the earliest possible date after failing to reach an agreement on an exact timeline in their rare gathering.
The trilateral foreign ministers' meeting was the first of its kind in four years, bringing together South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and his respective Chinese and Japanese counterparts Wang Yi and Yoko Kamikawa in the southeastern port city of Busan.
"We reaffirmed our commitment to convene a summit, which is the pinnacle of the trilateral cooperation framework, at the earliest convenient time for all parties, and promised to expedite the preparations for the upcoming summit," Park said in a press briefing held shortly after the meeting.
He did not elaborate any further on the timeline of the anticipated summit.
“Discussions about the summit are underway with several proposed dates, but we have yet to reach an agreement,” a senior ministry official said during a closed-door briefing.
The foreign ministers' meeting was widely anticipated to give momentum to setting the timeline for the resumption of the annual trilateral summit gathering the leaders of the Asian neighbors, which has been suspended for four years since the last one held in China's Chengdu in December 2019.
During a meeting between senior foreign ministry officials of the three nations in September, they agreed to resume the trilateral summit “at the earliest convenient time.”
With discussions on setting the timeline making little progress, it is said that three nations are looking at possible dates for the summit in early 2024, given that only one month is left in this year.
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin speaks during a three-way foreign ministerial meeting with Japan and China in Busan, Sunday. Joint Press Corps
Sunday's ministerial gathering was a sign of revival in trilateral cooperation among the neighboring countries, which has been weakened in recent years amid diplomatic disputes and global hegemonic conflicts.
"Despite the high potential for cooperation among the three countries, our partnerships have faced various setbacks due to changes in the international environment and bilateral relations. As such, today's meeting, held after four years and three months, signals a significant step toward the restoration and normalization of cooperation between South Korea, Japan and China,” Park said in his opening remarks.
The South Korean minister also called for bolstered partnership in addressing security threats in the region prompted by North Korea’s increasing belligerence, highlighted by the regime's launch of a military spy satellite last week.
Since launching the satellite on Tuesday night, Pyongyang has been touting the success of its self-described “space guard,” which it claims has captured photos of major target regions in South Korea including Seoul and Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, where key U.S. military bases are located.
Kamikawa, for her part, said, "The global environment is becoming more difficult and complex than ever, with challenges ranging from Russia's invasion of Ukraine to increased threats in the Middle East and escalating tensions by North Korea."
She hoped for forward-looking and constructive cooperation among the neighboring countries to tackle various regional and global challenges.
It was Kamikawa’s first visit to South Korea as Japan’s top diplomat since she took office in September.
The Chinese foreign minister said the decades-long ties between the three Asian nations have brought mutual benefits to each country, and hoped for the normalization of the trilateral partnership that had been scaled down during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year's trilateral gathering was the first of its kind in four years and three months.
After the inaugural foreign ministerial meeting held on South Korea’s Jeju Island in 2007, the three nations took turns hosting the event, which was convened nine times before it came to a halt after the last one in Beijing in 2019, due mainly to strained relations between South Korea and Japan over historical grievances as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to the event, discussions had been underway for the three ministers to hold a joint press briefing after their discussions, followed by a dinner hosted by Park, but the plans were canceled reportedly due to Wang's limited time in Korea.
On the sidelines of the three-way meeting, Park sat down for separate talks with Wang and Kamikawa earlier in the day.
The meeting with his Japanese counterpart focused on bolstering partnerships in the economy, security and people-to-people exchanges, according to Seoul's foreign ministry.
"The ministers also exchanged views about pending issues in bilateral relations which included a recent Seoul High Court ruling issued on Nov. 23 that ordered Japan to compensate South Korean victims of wartime sex slavery," a senior ministry official said during a closed-door briefing.
According to the official, the Japanese top diplomat reiterated her government's position issued last week that the ruling is contrary to a deal signed by the two governments in 2015 to "irreversibly" resolve the wartime sex slavery issue.
Park replied that the South Korean government respects the 2015 agreement, while stressing that the two sides should make joint efforts to restore the honor and dignity of the victims as stated in the agreement.
The official commented that the meeting between Park and Kamikawa proceeded in a friendly mood, saying that it lasted for 85 minutes — 25 minutes longer than scheduled — as the two ministers laid out areas of future cooperation.
In a sign of the warm bilateral relations, it is said that Japan has recently expressed support for South Korea’s candidacy to host the World Expo 2030 in Busan. The port city is competing with Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and Italy’s Rome, with the host city to be decided during a vote at the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) general assembly in Paris, Tuesday.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during a trilateral meeting between South Korean, Japanese and Chinese foreign ministers held in Busan, Sunday. Joint Press Corps
Meanwhile, the bilateral meeting between Park and Wang, which took place amid strained relations between the two nations, highlighted their differing views on key diplomatic issues.
"Both ministers reaffirmed their fundamental position on developing a healthy and mature relationship based on mutual respect, reciprocity and common interests," a ministry official told reporters.
During the meeting, the South Korean side requested China's constructive role in addressing North Korea's nuclear threats, mentioning that Pyongyang's latest satellite launch violated multiple U.N. resolutions and threatened the stability of the Korean Peninsula.
Wang replied that China will help to stabilize tensions on the peninsula, without providing further details on how, according to the official.
In response to Park's "strong demand" to refrain from repatriating North Korean escapees against their will, Wang said the Chinese government will stick to its current stance of making decisions based on domestic and international laws as well as from a humanitarian perspective.