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China and Japan

A meeting between the foreign ministers of South Korea, China, and Japan - which has not been held for the past three years because of territorial and historical disputes - is scheduled to take place in Seoul on Mar. 21.

The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the meeting would be held in a brief released on Mar. 17. South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se is to chair the meeting, which will be attended by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

During the meeting, the foreign ministers are expected to share opinions on a wide range of issues, including the level of cooperation between the three countries, directions for development, and major issues affecting the region and the world.

The three foreign ministers have not met since President Park Geun-hye, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to power at the end of 2012.

The three ministers could also discuss the possibility of a trilateral summit, but it is unclear whether such a discussion would accomplish anything. While Japan is very interested in holding a summit, both South Korea and China remain noncommittal for now.

“A trilateral summit is something we will have to consider after seeing how the meeting between the three foreign ministers turns out,” a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said during the regular press briefing on Tuesday.

The Chinese government is planning to make up its mind about a summit after reviewing the statement that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning to release this August on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, news agency Kyodo News reported on Tuesday.

The trilateral meetings between leaders and foreign ministers, which are hosted in rotation by South Korea, Japan, and China, kicked off with a meeting of foreign ministers on Jeju Island in 2007. The meetings were held every year until 2012, when they ended with the sixth meeting of foreign ministers in Ningbo, China, and the fifth summit meeting in Beijing, China.

Diplomatic rancor between China and Japan heated up when Japan nationalized the Senkaku Islands (called Diaoyu in China) in Sep. 2012. The historical position of the government of Shinzo Abe, which came to power soon after, has been sharply criticized by both South Korea and China.

By Kim Oi-hyun, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]