Japan, China, South Korea to Call for Denuclearization of Korean Peninsula; Draft Joint Summit Declaration Shows Details

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:00 JST, May 25, 2024

Top officials of Japan, China and South Korea are set to call for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as a common goal, with an eye toward North Korea’s nuclear and missile development, according to a draft of a joint declaration to be adopted at the upcoming trilateral summit.

At the summit to be held in Seoul on Monday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Chinese Premier Li Qiang are expected to stress that maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia is their common interest and responsibility.

This will be the first trilateral summit since the previous one took place 4½ years ago in Chengdu, China, in December 2019.

According to the draft, the three countries will stress the importance of dialogue and diplomatic efforts, as well as of the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea, in order to achieve the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, among other goals. The three countries will also share the idea of calling for an immediate resolution of other issues, such as the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korea.

The draft also shows that Kishida, Yoon and Li are expected to affirm their countries’ involvement in international order based on the rule of law and oppose any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion.

The three countries are set to agree to strengthen their trilateral cooperation in six areas: human exchange; sustainable development and climate change; economic cooperation and trade; public health and aging society; science and technology as well as digitalization; and disaster relief.

In the area of economic cooperation and trade, Japan, China and South Korea are expected to emphasize their shared responsibility to maintain and strengthen an open and fair international economic order based on rules. They will also set a goal to increase the volume of trade among the three countries from $770 billion (about \120 trillion) in 2022 to $1 trillion over the next several years. The draft also specifies the three countries’ intention to accelerate negotiations toward the conclusion of their trilateral free trade agreement.

The three countries are also set to affirm the need to hold regular meetings among their leaders and ministers in order to advance trilateral cooperation.

The joint declaration is planned to be issued when Kishida, Yoon and Li meet on Monday. Working-level officials of the three countries are currently in the process of finalizing the draft. Coordination could become difficult as China may voice objections regarding North Korean issues and the draft’s wording about opposition to any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo.