Japan, South Korea and China agreed Saturday that peace on the Korean peninsula was a shared responsibility, Seoul’s foreign minister said, in a meeting of the three countries’ top diplomats in which they pledged to promote cooperation.

The talks followed a rare trilateral summit in May in Seoul where the neighbours — riven by historical and territorial disputes — agreed to deepen ties and restated their goal of a denuclearised Korean peninsula.

But they come as US trade tariffs loom over the region, and as concerns mount over North Korea’s weapons tests and its deployment of troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“We reaffirmed that maintaining peace and stability on the Korean peninsula is a shared interest and responsibility of the three countries,” South Korea’s Cho Tae-yul said Saturday.

“Additionally, I stressed that illegal military cooperation between Russia and North Korea must be immediately halted,” he said.

Seoul and Tokyo typically take a stronger line against North Korea than China, which remains one of Pyongyang’s most important allies and economic benefactors.

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said he, Cho, and China’s Wang Yi “had a frank exchange of views on trilateral cooperation and regional international affairs… and confirmed that we will promote future-orientated cooperation”.

“The international situation has become increasingly severe, and it is no exaggeration to say that we are at a turning point in history,” Iwaya said at the start of Saturday’s meeting.

“In this context, it has become more important than ever to make efforts to overcome division and confrontation through dialogue and cooperation”, he said.

Wang said that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, and “only by sincerely reflecting on history can we better build the future”.

Strengthening cooperation will allow the countries “to jointly resist risks” as well as promote “mutual understanding” between their populations, he added.

– New economic opportunities –


https://guardian.ng/features/culture/japan-china-and-south-korea-agree-to-promote-peace-cooperation/