SEOUL:  , South Korean, Chinese and Japanese leaders will hold their first trilateral summit in nearly five years next week in Seoul, South Korea’s presidential office said on Thursday ( May 23 ).
According to Seoul’s deputy national security director Kim Tae-hyo, President Yoon Suk Yeol may meet with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday in the North Korean money.
On Sunday, Yoon may keep distinct diplomatic discussions with Li and Kishida, Kim added.
The three frontrunners are also scheduled to speak at a company conference and “encourage businesspeople from the three nations,” he said.
The three countries ‘ last official meeting took place in 2019 partly as a result of the COVID-19 crisis as well as political and traditional disputes between South Korea and the then-colonial emperor Japan.
Legal issues over Japan’s 1910 to 1945 rule over the Korean peninsula persist between the two places.
However, South Korea’s Yoon has decided to bury the traditional knife with Japan while strengthening relationships with long-standing alliance Washington in light of the growing threat posed by nuclear-armed Pyongyang.
Following a traditional mountain at Camp David in the United States in August of last year, Seoul, Tokyo, and Washington announced a “new book” of nearby three-way safety assistance.
At the time, Beijing lodged concerns over a speech released at the conference, in which the three friends criticised China’s “aggressive behavior” in the South China Sea.
Yoon last month claimed that the conflicts over Taiwan were the result of “attempts to change the status quo by force.”
The new multilateral mountain was announced a moment after Beijing reportedly called South Korean and Japanese officials to speak on “issues about Taiwan.”
China is South Korea’s biggest business lover, but it remains North Korea’s most significant financial patron and political alliance.
In response to Kim Jong Un’s government’s increased arms tests, Beijing has obstructed US-led efforts to impose tougher sanctions on the head of the UN Security Council in addition to Moscow.
Next month, North Korean leader Kim and China’s top senator hailed a “new book” of Beijing- North relations, as the two nations celebrated 75 years of political relations.
Li’s first trip to South Korea since taking office as China’s leader in March 2023 will be at the upcoming summit.