Leaders of South Korea, China and Japan to meet next week

The leaders of South Korea, China and Japan will meet next week in Seoul for the first such trilateral talks in more than four years, South Korea's presidential office said on Thursday.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang will meet on Monday in the South Korean capital.

There is expected to be a declaration of cooperation in six areas, including the economy and trade. Partnerships are also to be strengthened in healthcare, science and technology, disaster prevention and people-to-people exchanges.

South Korean media reported that a series of one-on-one talks between Yoon, Kishida and Li are planned for Sunday, before the meeting of all three together a day later.

The last of eight such trilateral summits among Asia's three largest economies took place in December 2019. Since then, the meetings have not been held due to the coronavirus pandemic and strained relations between Japan and South Korea.

Japan and South Korea, two close US allies, agreed last year on stronger defence cooperation with Washington. The initiative is aimed at countering North Korea's nuclear weapons programme and China's increasing military presence in the region.

South Korea media speculated that Yoon and Kishida would ask China to exert greater influence on Pyongyang in the nuclear dispute.

According to UN figures from February, China remains North Korea's largest trading partner by far.