- The presidents of China, Japan, and South Korea met with each other in Seoul.
- Because of the COVID-19 epidemic and the intricate relationships between the three nations, it has been on hold.
- Japan and South Korea are significant commercial partners and vital military allies of the US.
One day before their first trilateral meeting in more than four years, the leaders of China, Japan, and South Korea gathered in Seoul for separate meetings with the president of South Korea.
Following their first meeting in 2008, the trilateral leaders’ summit was scheduled to occur yearly. However, because of the COVID-19 epidemic and the intricate relationships between the three nations, it has been on hold since the December 2019 meeting.
Trilateral meeting
Along with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are anticipated to have bilateral meetings to explore cooperation in six areas: people-to-people exchanges, trade, health issues, technology, and disaster responses.
Japan and South Korea, which together account for almost 25% of the world’s GDP, are significant commercial partners and vital military allies of the United States. But, since Japan’s wartime atrocities, their relations have frequently been entangled in acrimonious disagreements over diplomatic and historical matters.
The past year has seen a significant improvement in bilateral ties as Yoon made a significant move to put past grudges aside and address common issues such as supply chain vulnerabilities, North Korean nuclear threats, and the growing Sino-American rivalry.
Although China is thought to have secretly backed the poor North, South Korea, Japan, and the United States want China to use its influence to convince the North to give up its nuclear ambitions. Experts state that there is currently a need for improved relations between China, South Korea, and Japan, with South Korea and Japan expressing a desire for closer connections with China being their largest trading partner.
