The leaders of South Korea, China and Japan will meet next week for the first time since 2019 – Metro US

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The leaders of South Korea, China and Japan will meet next week in Seoul for their first trilateral talks in more than four years, the South Korean presidential office said Thursday .

The trilateral summit between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will take place in Seoul on Monday, Yoon’s presidential office announced.

The three leaders were expected to hold bilateral talks on Sunday, according to South Korea’s presidential office.

Since their first independent trilateral summit in 2008, the three Asian countries were supposed to hold such a meeting between their leaders every year. But the summit has been suspended since it was last held in December 2019 in China.

Efforts to strengthen cooperation between Asian neighbors often face obstacles due to a mix of issues, including historical disputes stemming from Japanese wartime aggression and strategic competition between China and the UNITED STATES.

Relations between South Korea and Japan deteriorated severely due to issues related to Japan’s colonization of the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945. But their relations have improved significantly since 2023, as the two countries took a series of major measures to move beyond this history and strengthen their cooperation in the face of the advancement of North Korea’s nuclear program and other common challenges.

North Korea’s growing arsenal of nuclear-capable missiles poses a major security threat to South Korea and Japan. But China, North Korea’s last major ally and top source of aid, is suspected of avoiding fully implementing U.N. sanctions against North Korea and sending covert aid to help its poor neighbor to stay afloat and continue to serve as a bulwark against American influence over North Korea. Peninsula.