Senior diplomats of Korea, Japan, China to hold talks in Tokyo next week

Chinese Premier Li Qiang, right, stands near Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, second from right, and Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, third from right, after the group photo at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus Three Summit in Vientiane, Laos, Oct. 10. AP-Yonhap

Senior diplomats of Korea, Japan and China will hold talks in Tokyo early next week to discuss three-way cooperation, including plans for a summit of their leaders expected to take place next year, officials said Friday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won will meet with Japanese Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi and China's Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong in the Japanese capital for the talks Monday, Seoul officials said.

"The three representatives will review the status of trilateral cooperation among their governments and discuss the future directions for advancing their cooperation," the foreign ministry in Seoul said in a statement.

The meeting is expected to focus on discussing the arrangements and agenda items for a trilateral summit of the countries' leaders, scheduled to take place in Japan early next year.

Korea hosted the previous summit in Seoul in May. (Yonhap)