S. Korea, China, Japan ramp up cooperation

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Top leaders from South Korea, China and Japan discussed regional stability in their first meeting in five years on Monday, as they vowed to ramp up three-way cooperation.

The summit brought together South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Seoul for the countries’ first trilateral talks in nearly five years, partly due to the pandemic, but also once-sour ties.

Chinese Premier Li said in his opening remarks that the three countries were willing “to seek mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation,” Xinhua reported.

“Li called for opposing turning economic and trade issues into political games or security matters, and rejecting protectionism as well as decoupling or the severing of supply chains,” the news agency said.

Yoon added that the three countries had “decided to create a transparent and predictable environment for trade and investment, and to establish a safe supply chain.”

After their talks, Yoon, Li and Kishida joined a business summit aimed at boosting trade between the countries, which was also attended by top industry leaders.

“The trilateral cooperation system should be strengthened. We have decided to hold trilateral summits on a regular basis,” Yoon said.

Meanwhile, Seoul said on Friday that South Korean and United States intelligence authorities were “closely monitoring and tracking” presumed preparations for the launch of another military reconnaissance satellite by North Korea — which could come as early as Monday, according to the launch window Pyongyang gave to Tokyo.