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Pool / The Yomiuri Shimbun From left: Foreign ministers Wang Yi from China, Takeshi Iwaya from Japan and Cho Tae-yul from South Korea pose prior to their meeting Saturday in Tokyo.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
17:28 JST, March 22, 2025
The foreign ministers of Japan, China and South Korea agreed Saturday that they would “speed up coordination of a summit meeting to be held at an appropriate and early date.”
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and his counterparts Wang Yi from China and Cho Tae-yul from South Korea met in Tokyo for the first trilateral foreign ministerial meeting since one in Busan in November 2023. The three discussed economic cooperation and the situation in North Korea, which is continuing its nuclear and missile development.
“The global situation has become severe, and we are at a turning point in history,” said Iwaya at the start of the 80-minute-long meeting he chaired. “It has become more important than ever to promote efforts to overcome division and confrontation through dialogue and cooperation.”
Meanwhile, Wang told Iwaya: “This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese people in the war against Japan and fascism in the world.
“The Chinese people and the people of the region attach great importance to this important milestone, and only by sincerely reflecting on history can we truly open up the future.”
He added that the three countries “have a responsibility to promote mutual trust and provide more stable elements to achieve regional peace and development.”
Cho touched on the fact that the previous summit meeting between the three countries, held in May 2024, was the first in about four and a half years and emphasized the importance of holding a summit meeting again soon.
“It is difficult to get a wheel that has stopped moving again,” Cho said. “We must maintain the momentum.”
The three leaders agreed to produce tangible results in promoting mutual understanding, cooperating to protect people’s livelihoods and resolving common issues such as the declining birthrate and aging population.
During the talks, Iwaya expressed concern over North Korea’s nuclear and missile development, its theft of cryptocurrency through cyberattacks and its military cooperation with Russia. “Denuclearization of North Korea is the common goal of the three countries,” Iwaya said.
Iwaya added that Japan would communicate with China and South Korea for that purpose in accordance with the full implementation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions. He also sought their cooperation toward resolving the issue of the abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea.
“We must work hard to make North Korea stop provocations and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula completely,” Cho said.
Wang, on the other hand, refrained from making any in-depth reference to Pyongyang’s denuclearization.
“The situation on the Korean Peninsula is complex and delicate, and there are an increasing number of unstable and uncertain elements,” Wang said. “All parties should make efforts to come to a mutual understanding and find the greatest common denominator in their respective areas of concern.”
Regarding the situation in Ukraine, Iwaya said, “Unilateral attempts to change the status quo are unacceptable anywhere in the world.”
After the trilateral meeting, Iwaya held separate talks with Cho and Wang.
At the first Japan-China High-Level Economic Dialogue since April 2019, Iwaya was expected to request that China lift its suspension of seafood imports from Japan, which it imposed officially in response to the discharge of treated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean.
Ishiba meets Wang
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba met with Wang and Cho at the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday.
“We sometimes face difficult problems unique to neighboring countries, but we would like to build a future-oriented cooperative relationship through dialogue, including on pending issues,” Ishiba said.
Wang told reporters after the meeting: “It is important for the Japanese side to keep its solemn promise regarding history and the serious issue of Taiwan. We cannot avoid or forget history.”
