Japan, South Korea, and China’s foreign ministers meet one week ahead… China’s ‘engagement on North Korea’ is key.

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Diplomatic leaders from South Korea, Japan, and China are set to meet in Busan on the 26th to discuss major Northeast Asian issues, including North Korea. In particular, attention is focused on whether China can be persuaded to take a more active role in addressing North Korea’s threatening actions.

According to a News1 report, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, and Chinese Communist Party Politburo member and Foreign Minister Wang Yi are planning to hold a trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting in Busan around the 26th.

Although there has been no official announcement from the three countries, it is understood that the progress of the discussion depends on China’s final ‘confirmation’.

It is reported that the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Busan is already preparing for the meeting of the foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan, and China, in communication with the Chinese Embassy in Seoul.

This will be the first trilateral summit since it was last held in Beijing, China in August 2019, nearly four years ago.

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

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

However, with the launch of the Yoon Seok-yeol government, the improvement of South Korea-Japan relations has been rapidly progressing, and Japan and China both agree that a trilateral dialogue should be arranged as soon as possible, paving the way for the trilateral summit.

In order to hold the trilateral summit, the three countries go through the process of ‘Deputy Ministerial Meeting → Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) → Foreign Ministers’ Meeting’. Since the SOM meeting was held last September, this foreign ministers’ meeting can be seen as the final stage for confirming the holding of the trilateral summit.

Kim Jong-un, Secretary of the North Korean Workers’ Party, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. © AFP=News1 © News1 Reporter Woo Dong-myung

The foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan, and China are expected to exchange views on the direction of cooperation and major regional and international situations. Depending on the situation, bilateral meetings in the form of South Korea-China, South Korea-Japan, and Japan-China cannot be ruled out.
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.
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, but the South Korea-China summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping did not take place.
Currently, North Korea is strengthening military cooperation with Russia, including arms trade, and has announced the launch of a third military reconnaissance satellite. In order to put a ‘brake’ on North Korea, which is blatantly violating the UN Security Council’s sanctions against North Korea, the role of China, a permanent member of the Security Council and North Korea’s ‘ally’ and ‘backer’, is necessary.
On the 15th (local time), US President Joe Biden and President Xi held a US-China summit, but they did not reach any significant agreement on the North Korean issue, but drew ‘parallel lines’.
The White House emphasized the US’s consistent will for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, reconfirming its principled position that it has already declared 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 issues, including the controversial forced repatriation of North Korean defectors in China.
Japan, which is also focusing on improving relations with South Korea, is expected to take the same stance as South Korea on the North Korean issue and provide ‘support’. Especially, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has repeatedly mentioned the need to improve North Korea-Japan relations, so there is a possibility that Japan will also request China’s ‘role’.

ntiger@news1.kr