Nov 05, 2015 During their first joint meeting in over three years, the leaders of South Korea, Japan and China recently pledged to work towards greater economic integration.
The meeting had in attendance South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. The three Asian leaders unanimously agreed to resume annual meetings which had been suspended since 2012 amid disagreements over history and territory.
While addressing a joint news conference with Li and Abe after the summit, South Korean President said:
“I believe there is unlimited potential in economic cooperation between the three countries. With this precious chance, I hope the leaders and the businessman from the three countries work together to build a new economic order in and around northeast Asia,”
However, South Korean and Chinese ties with Japan have been troubled by the repeated failures of Japanese leaders to properly atone for wartime atrocities.
With this on the backdrop, the meeting was a diplomatic breakthrough for Prime Minister Abe, who has long sought the resumption of the trilateral summit.