Japan, China, South Korea Meet for Talks on North Korea, Regional Cooperation

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and South Korea's Yun Byung Se met for talks Wednesday in Tokyo to discuss coordination in dealing with North Korea and promote regional cooperation on other issues, even as tensions remain between Japan and China due to a territorial dispute.

    The talks, which started earlier in the day, marked the first time that foreign ministers of the three countries got together following the last such event held in Seoul back in March of 2015.

    The foreign ministers' meeting comes amid diplomatic rows involving all three countries. China and Japan have been at odds over islands in the East China Sea, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

    South Korean and Chinese ties have been frayed over Seoul's recent decision to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery on its soil. This drew strong objections from Beijing which worries that it can be targeted by the missile defense shield.

    The three also met in the face of mounting nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, which is expected to be yet another major topic during the talk. Earlier, the North test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile in the East Sea in defiance of international sanctions.

    The top diplomats of South Korea, China and Japan vowed to spearhead global efforts against North Korea's continued missile provocations as they held a trilateral meeting to discuss cooperation and other pending issues of mutual concerns, according to (Yonhap) news agency.

    At a joint press conference held after the meeting, Kishida told reporters that the three confirmed that they will lead the international response, including resolutions on the UN Security Council level, against the North's continued provocations. They also agreed that the North's latest missile test-fire is a provocation that cannot be tolerated.

Source: QNA