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| From left are President Yoon Suk-yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Korea Times file |
South Korea-China bilateral talks unlikely
By Kang Seung-woo
President Yoon Suk-yeol said, Thursday, he will sit down with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida, on the sidelines of multilateral meetings in Southeast Asia later this week amid a series of provocations by North Korea.
"During the multilateral meetings, there will be several important bilateral summits," Yoon told reporters a day before he leaves for Cambodia and Indonesia to attend meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Group of 20.
In Phnom Penh, Yoon is scheduled to attend a South Korea-ASEAN summit, an ASEAN Plus Three summit and the East Asia Summit before departing for Bali for the G20 summit on Tuesday.
"A South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit has been fixed and several other bilateral meetings have also been set or are under discussion," Yoon added. However, he did not elaborate on exactly when the meetings will take place.
According to Reuters, the leaders will meet in Cambodia, Sunday, and address the ongoing threat posed by North Korea's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.
Later in the day, the presidential office said Yoon will also hold bilateral talks with Biden, but did not specify the date or location.
The planned three-way meeting comes as the three countries have stepped up joint efforts to deal with increasing nuclear and missile threats ― particularly since Yoon took office in May. This year alone, North Korea has test-fired ballistic missiles over 30 times. The country is also believed to have fully prepared for a seventh nuclear test.
The leaders met in the Spanish capital of Madrid in June on the sidelines of a NATO summit, where they discussed enhancing trilateral cooperation throughout the Indo-Pacific, particularly in regard to addressing the evolving threat posed by North Korea's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.
This time, they are expected to reaffirm their commitment to further strengthen security cooperation as the Kim Jong-un regime's threats increase, as evidenced by its test-firing of seven intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) this year.
In response to the mounting North Korean menace, the three countries held combined naval exercises, involving the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier strike group, in the East Sea in September and October. In addition, their vice foreign ministers and top nuclear envoys have also held consultations over the phone whenever North Korea staged a military provocation.
The three countries have insisted that the international community hold North Korea responsible for its unlawful provocations, while working together in response to any threat from the country.
Should North Korea conduct a nuclear test or test fire an ICBM, when the leaders are attending the meetings, they may take immediate action.
However, it remains to be seen if Yoon will hold his first summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the multilateral meetings.
"I think that President Yoon could have an encounter with President Xi when they attend sessions of the meetings," a senior official of the National Security Council told reporters, Wednesday.
The presidential office also said, Thursday, bilateral summits between Seoul and Beijing or Tokyo have not yet been decided.
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