One week ahead of trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting… China’s ‘engagement on North Korea’ key.

ⓒ News1 DB

(SEOUL=News1) Reporter Noh Min-ho = Diplomatic chiefs from South Korea, Japan, and China are scheduled to gather in Busan on the 26th to discuss major Northeast Asian issues, including North Korea. The focus will be on whether China can be actively ‘involved’ in response to North Korea’s threatening moves.

According to News1’s reporting, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, Japanese Foreign Minister Kishida Fumio, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are planning to hold a three-nation foreign ministers’ meeting in Busan around the 26th.

While the three countries have yet to officially announce this, the progress of the discussion is said to be at a point where it can be confirmed as soon as China gives the final ‘confirmation’.

In particular, the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Busan is already preparing for the meeting of the foreign ministers of Korea, Japan, and China by communicating with the Chinese Embassy in Seoul.

This will be the first time in about four years since the trilateral summit was held in Beijing, China in August 2019.

The foreign ministers of the three countries are expected to focus on coordinating the agenda and timing for the early convening of the Korea-Japan-China summit, which is expected to take place later this year or early next year.

The Korea-Japan-China summit, which began in 2008, has not been held since the meeting in Chengdu, China in December 2019, due to the global pandemic of COVID-19 and the deterioration of Korea-Japan relations.

However, since the launch of the Yoon Seok-yeol government, the improvement of Korea-Japan relations has been rapidly progressing, and both Japan and China have formed a consensus that the trilateral dialogue should be arranged early, and the Korea-Japan-China summit is also in the process of being held.

In order to hold the Korea-Japan-China summit, the three countries go through the process of ‘deputy ministerial meeting→senior official meeting (SOM)→foreign ministers’ meeting’. Since the SOM meeting was held last September, this foreign ministers’ meeting can be seen as the final step to confirm the holding of the Korea-Japan-China summit.

Kim Jong-un, Secretary of the North Korean Labor Party, and Vladimir Putin, President of Russia.ⓒ AFP=News1 ⓒ News1 Reporter Woo Dong-myung

The foreign ministers of Korea, Japan, and China are expected to exchange opinions on the direction of cooperation and major regional and international political situations. Depending on the situation, there is a possibility that bilateral meetings in the form of Korea-China, Korea-Japan, and Japan-China could be held.

From the government’s perspective, it is expected to focus its diplomatic capacity on requesting China’s ‘constructive role’ in the North Korean issue together with Japan.

Earlier, President Yoon had a chance to convey this position to China during his visit to San Francisco, USA, for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit from the 15th to the 18th for a 2-night and 4-day schedule. However, the Korea-China summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping did not take place.

Currently, North Korea is intensifying military cooperation with Russia, including arms trade, and has also announced the launch of the third military reconnaissance satellite. In order to put the brakes on North Korea, which is openly violating the UN Security Council’s sanctions resolution against North Korea, the role of China, a permanent member of the Security Council and North Korea’s ‘blood ally’ and ‘backer’, is necessary.

On the 15th (local time), US President Joe Biden and President Xi held a US-China summit, but they drew a ‘parallel line’ without reaching any significant agreement on the North Korean issue.

The White House emphasized the United States’ continued commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, reaffirming its principled position that it had already stated several times, while the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not even mention ‘the Korean Peninsula’ or ‘North Korea’.

In this context, Minister Park is expected to ask Minister Wang for an active stance on the North Korean issue and also mention the North Korean human rights issue, including the recent controversial forced repatriation of North Korean defectors in China.

Japan, which is also focusing on improving relations with Korea, is also expected to take the same position as Korea on the North Korean issue and provide ‘support’. Especially, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has repeatedly mentioned the need to improve North Korea-Japan relations, so there is a possibility that Japan will also request China’s ‘role’.