China, Japan, South Korea agree to boost cooperation at ‘turning point in history’
The foreign ministers of Japan, South Korea and China agreed Saturday that peace on the Korean peninsula was a shared responsibility, Seoul's foreign minister said. The ministers met as US trade tariffs loom over the region, and amid concerns over North Korea's weapons tests and its deployment of troops to support Russia's war in Ukraine.
The talks followed a rare trilateral summit in May in Seoul where the neighbours -- riven by historical and territorial disputes -- agreed to deepen ties and restated their goal of a denuclearised Korean peninsula.
But they come as US trade tariffs loom over the region, and as concerns mount over North Korea's weapons tests and its deployment of troops to support Russia's war against Ukraine.
"We reaffirmed that maintaining peace and stability on the Korean peninsula is a shared interest and responsibility of the three countries," South Korea's Cho Tae-yul said Saturday.
"Additionally, I stressed that illegal military cooperation between Russia and North Korea must be immediately halted," he said.
Seoul and Tokyo typically take a stronger line against North Korea than China, which remains one of Pyongyang's most important allies and economic benefactors.
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said he, Cho, and China's Wang Yi "had a frank exchange of views on trilateral cooperation and regional international affairs... and confirmed that we will promote future-orientated cooperation".
Patricia M. Kim, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said that while "trilateral dialogues have been ongoing for over a decade", this round "carries heightened significance" due to the new US position.
"Their leaders are under growing pressure to diversify their options and to seek alternative economic opportunities," she told AFP.
Beijing "has been working actively to improve relations with other major and middle powers amid growing frictions with the United States", she added.
The foreign ministers of Japan, South Korea and China agreed Saturday that peace on the Korean peninsula was a shared responsibility, Seoul's foreign minister said. The ministers met as US trade tariffs…
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