Top diplomats of S. Korea, China, Japan to hold talks in Busan this weekend

The top diplomats of South Korea, China and Japan will hold trilateral talks in the southeastern port city of Busan this weekend, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday, amid fresh tensions after North Korea's launch of a military spy satellite.

Foreign Minister Park Jin will meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa on Sunday for broad discussions on ways to boost trilateral cooperation and other regional and global issues, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

The ministers will also discuss preparations to resume the long-suspended trilateral summit among the leaders of the three countries, which has not taken place since late 2019, the ministry said.

On Sunday, Park will hold separate bilateral talks with Wang and Kamikawa, respectively, before inviting the two ministers to a luncheon meeting.

The three-way talks will take place after the luncheon.

Wang and Kamikawa are expected to arrive in Busan on Saturday.

The three-way ministerial talks come as tensions rise after the North placed a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit on Tuesday, a success believed to have been achieved with Russia's help.

South Korea, the United States, Japan and Britain said they believe the North provided weapons and munitions to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine, in return for getting assistance in military technologies.

The North's latest provocation and the growing military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow are expected to be a key agenda item at Sunday's talks.

They will also discuss efforts to resume the three-way leaders' summit.

As the current rotating chair, Seoul has been pushing to host the summit before the end of this year.

The trilateral summit has not been held largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and the deterioration in bilateral relations between Seoul and Tokyo over the issue of compensating Korean victims of forced labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

The last summit was held in China's southwestern city of Chengdu in December 2019.

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

In a senior officials' meeting in late September, the three countries agreed to hold the tripartite summit at an early date. (Yonhap)