South Korea, Japan, and China are expected to resume a trilateral meeting of their leaders in early October, a diplomatic source here said Tuesday.
"Chances are high that the three nations hold summit talks within this year," the source said, requesting anonymity. "Given busy diplomatic schedules in the second half of this year, the meeting is likely to take place in early October or no later than mid-October."
It would be "natural" for President Park Geun-hye to visit Washington in late October following the trilateral session, the source told Yonhap News Agency.
The annual group summit of the three regional powers was launched in 2008 but it was last held in Beijing in 2012 amid historical disputes among them.
It is South Korea's turn to host the gathering to be attended by Park, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
"Seoul is the most likely venue but it's not a bad idea to hold it in another city, for example Gyeongju," the source said, referring to the ancient capital city in North Gyeongsang Province.
It would also set the stage for rare one-on-one talks between Park and Abe on the sidelines.
But South Korean officials remain cautious about Park's separate summit with Abe, which has not been arranged yet since the two took office.
"Basically, we have an open position to the South Korea-Japan summit talks," Foreign Ministry's spokesman Noh Kwang-il said at a press briefing. "For now, however, it's premature to talk about a specific timing."
It's important to create "conditions for a successful summit" that the two countries can build up sustainable trust, Noh added.
In Tokyo, a top Japanese diplomat reportedly said Park and Abe may meet each other as early as September when they attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
"The mood has become quite good since the foreign ministerial meeting (on June 21)," Deputy Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama was quoted as saying by the Yomiuri Shimbun. "(The bilateral ties) have hit the bottom."
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se visited Tokyo to hold talks with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida and attend a ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral diplomatic ties. (Yonhap)
