Senior officials from Japan, China, and South Korea met on Monday to discuss strengthening trilateral cooperation, marking a significant step in regional diplomacy following the revival of their summit process earlier this year.
The meeting, held at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo, brought together Takehiro Funakoshi, Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Sun Weidong, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, and Chung Byung-won, Deputy Minister for Political Affairs of South Korea.
The officials praised the progress made since the Trilateral Summit in May, which was the first such gathering in four-and-a-half years. They expressed commitment to bolstering future-oriented cooperation among the three nations, focusing on six key areas identified at the May summit: people-to-people exchanges, sustainable development, economic cooperation and trade, public health and aging society issues, science and technology cooperation including digital transformation, and disaster relief and safety.
Recognizing shared challenges such as climate change, disaster risk reduction, and aging populations, the delegates agreed to continue discussions on specific cooperation projects within these areas.
The officials also agreed to prepare for the upcoming Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and Trilateral Summit, aiming to hold these events at the earliest convenient time.
Following the senior officials’ meeting, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa received courtesy calls from Vice Minister Sun and Deputy Minister Chung. Minister Kamikawa expressed her desire to further strengthen trilateral cooperation, building on the momentum from the May summit.
This meeting underscores the ongoing efforts of Japan, China, and South Korea to enhance regional cooperation and address common challenges in East Asia, despite existing tensions and geopolitical complexities in the region.
