The leaders of South Korea, China and Japan will meet on May 9 for the first trilateral talks between the three countries since 2015.
Few details have emerged of the summit so far, including the exact location. On Tuesday night, the South Korean government said topics to be discussed include the recent Moon-Kim summit, as well as relations between the neighboring powers.
The talks mark the first visit by a sitting South Korean President to Japan in six and a half years, according to Moon’s office.
Separately from the summit, China’s Prime Minister will also conduct a full diplomatic visit to Japan from May 8-11, during which he will meet the Emperor of Japan.
Strained ties
The last trilateral talks took place in Seoul in 2015 between Abe, Li and then-South Korean President Park Geun-hye. The event had been held twice before in Japan, twice in China and twice in South Korea.
The talks are the latest attempt by China and Japan to repair years of damaged diplomatic ties ahead of the 40th anniversary this August of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which established diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1978.
Analysts have also linked the talks — and any suggestion of a possible rapprochement — to uncertainty caused by US President Donald Trump, who is threatening both countries with a range of punitive trade measures.
«I think also Trump’s trade policies are giving China and Japan more of a reason to speak to each other because they’re both targets — not just China, but Japan,» Richard McGregor, author of «Asia’s Reckoning», told CNN.
