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President Park Geun-hye talks to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before a commemorative photo at the ASEAN +3 meeting in Naypidaw

A sixth trilateral summit among South Korea, Japan, and China will take place on Nov. 1 at the Blue House’s Yeongbingwan guest house, the Blue House announced on Oct. 28.

The summit will be attended by South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

The trilateral summit would be the first since May 2012, when the fifth meeting took place in Beijing. A sixth summit was originally planned for Seoul in May 2013, but failed to take place amid conflicts between Seoul and Tokyo over historical issues, including the “comfort women,” and between Beijing and Tokyo over the Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands.

“At this summit, we are planning to discuss practical ideas for stronger collaboration in economic and social areas, sustainable development, and exchanges of people and culture, and to trade a broad range of perspectives on regional and international issues such as the Northeast Asian political environment, cooperation in East Asia, and international economic trends,” explained senior foreign affairs and national security secretary Kim Kyou-hyun during an Oct. 28 briefing at the Blue House.

After the summit, the leaders plan to hold a joint press conference on the afternoon of Nov. 1 to explain the results, after which they will meet with business representatives at a trilateral business summit and attend a welcome dinner later that day, the Blue House said.

President Park Geun-hye is currently scheduled to attend bilateral summits with Premier Li Keqiang on Oct. 31 and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Nov. 2.

The three countries had their first trilateral meeting in 1999 during an ASEAN+3 summit in Manila. They have organized separate trilateral summits since 2008, meeting in Fukuoka that December, Beijing the following October, Jeju in May 2010, and Beijing again in May 2012, for a total of five meetings.

“This is the first summit in about three-and-a-half years, and we are looking forward to trilateral cooperation returning to normal and the more proactive pursuit of collaborative projects in various areas,” said Kim Kyou-hyun.

By Choi Hye-jung, staff reporter

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