South Korea, China, Japan in talks to hold trilateral summit next month

South Korea is in talks with China and Japan to set a specific date to host a long-stalled trilateral summit next month, a Foreign Ministry official said Friday.

"We are currently discussing the date of the summit in Seoul, and we will let you know the specific date as soon as it is decided," the official added.

The three countries have decided to hold the summit at the "earliest time convenient" for all sides, according to the official.

On Thursday, Japan's Kyodo News reported the three countries' leaders will likely discuss economic cooperation and regional issues, such as North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, if the summit takes place, citing multiple diplomatic sources.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang will be visiting Seoul to meet with President Yoon Suk Yeol as South Korea is the current rotating chair.

The Seoul-Beijing-Tokyo summit has not been held since the last one took place in China's southwestern city of Chengdu in December 2019.

The summit has been suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak and deterioration in Seoul-Tokyo relations over the issue of compensating Korean victims of forced labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Talks of reviving the summit gathered momentum amid a dramatic warming of the Seoul-Tokyo relations after South Korea said in March last year it will compensate the Korean victims on its own without asking for contributions from Japanese companies.

Yonhap