Top diplomats from Japan, China, and South Korea convened in Tokyo on Saturday, seeking to strengthen cooperation on regional security and economic matters as global tensions continue to rise
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, joined by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, opened the 11th Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Meeting by acknowledging the fragile state of international affairs.
“Given the increasingly severe international situation, we may be standing at a historical crossroads,” Iwaya said. “That’s why it’s critical to overcome division and confrontation through dialogue and cooperation.”
This marks the first high-level trilateral meeting among the three nations since 2023. Key issues on the agenda include North Korea’s nuclear program, trade relations, and the groundwork for a future leaders’ summit, following the last one in Seoul.
Iwaya is also scheduled to meet separately with his Chinese and South Korean counterparts. His bilateral talk with Wang Yi will include the first high-level economic discussion between Japan and China in six years. Topics will likely include China’s ongoing ban on Japanese seafood imports, a move that followed Japan’s 2023 release of treated wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant.