Will the China-Japan-ROK leaders' meeting, which has been suspended for more than four years, resume at the end of the month? , South Korea says it is finalizing coordination with Kishida Fumio | Summit | China, Japan and South Korea

According to the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China, Japan and South Korea are making final coordination on holding a trilateral leaders’ meeting at the end of this month.

If realized, this will be the first summit meeting between the three countries in more than four years.

Outsiders believe that if China, Japan and South Korea resume the leaders' meeting, it will mark the restoration of the highest-level cooperation mechanism between China, Japan and South Korea, and is expected to lay a solid foundation for bringing the trilateral cooperation back on track.

An official from South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on the 4th that the three countries decided to choose a mutually convenient time to hold the leaders' meeting as soon as possible. South Korea, as the rotating chairman country, communicated and coordinated with China and Japan.

According to the official, the trilateral leaders' meeting will be held in Seoul from the 26th to the 27th of this month, and the schedule is expected to be announced soon.

Japanese public opinion also previously said that it was almost a foregone conclusion that the meeting would be held as scheduled.

By then, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue are expected to attend the meeting.

According to Japan, the leaders of the three countries are expected to discuss relevant issues in six areas, including personnel exchanges, economy, trade, public health, peace and security, and will work on issuing outcome documents.

The three parties may also exchange views on geo-security issues such as the Ukraine crisis, the North Korean nuclear issue, and a new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

If the leaders' meeting is resumed, it will be the first time for the heads of the three countries to gather together in more than four years.

The last, the eighth China-Japan-ROK leaders' meeting, was held in Chengdu, China, in December 2019.

The ninth China-Japan-ROK leaders' meeting was originally scheduled to be held in South Korea in 2020. However, due to the World War II workers' compensation dispute between South Korea and Japan, the raging COVID-19 epidemic, and interference from external forces, the trilateral leaders' meeting could not be held as scheduled and has even been suspended to this day.

Last year, with the subsidence of the epidemic, the resolution of disputes between Japan and South Korea and the improvement of relations, coupled with the active promotion of South Korea, the rotating chairman country, and the common needs of the three parties, the China-Japan-South Korea cooperation mechanism that had been suspended for nearly four years pressed the "reset button" and the three parties began to work intensively. Prepare for the trilateral summit meeting.

In September, the three countries resumed their Senior Officials Meeting after nearly four years to discuss trilateral cooperation, leaders' meetings and other matters.

In November, the foreign ministers of the three countries met again for the first time in four years and agreed to create conditions for the trilateral leaders' meeting, step up relevant preparations, and restart the meeting as soon as possible when it is convenient for the leaders of the three countries.

This foreign ministers' meeting is regarded as the last important link in the preparations for the three-country leaders' meeting.

However, after the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting, the trilateral leaders' meeting did not resume "as soon as possible". South Korea was once optimistic that the meeting would be held at the end of 2023 or early 2024, but it did not come true.

Now, South Korea is showing off again. If the date of the meeting is indeed as South Korea said, then it will have been half a year since the foreign ministers' meeting. The "time difference" between the last China-Japan-ROK foreign ministers' meeting and the leaders' meeting was four months.

The outside world believes that the postponement of the China-Japan-ROK leaders' meeting is related to factors such as the respective agendas of the three countries, so that the trilateral summit meeting is not listed as a priority.

In Japan, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was first busy with earthquake relief at the beginning of the year, and then was caught up in the Liberal Democratic Party's "black money" scandal. As a result, his approval rating fell to a historical low. In April, he was busy visiting the United States.

In South Korea, President Yoon Seok-yue has been making every effort to prepare for the Korean congressional elections in April.

In China, the National Two Sessions will be held in February. At the same time, China remains wary of the United States, Japan and South Korea’s moves to strengthen security cooperation.

Regarding the meeting schedule revealed by South Korea and Japan, some commentators believe that the meeting of leaders of the three countries has been postponed due to various factors. However, in view of the intensified changes in the regional and international situation, the three countries may believe that it cannot be delayed any longer, otherwise it will further damage the trust and cooperation among the three countries, and even regional peace and stability.

For South Korea and Japan, there are other considerations in holding a trilateral summit as soon as possible.

First, borrowing diplomatic dividends may boost the leader's sluggish approval rating at home;

Secondly, in the face of the so-called military threat from North Korea, it hopes to obtain China's support to prevent North Korea from advancing its nuclear and missile programs.

Third, in the face of the uncertainty caused by the US election, the regional foundation can be stabilized in advance.

Among the China-Japan-ROK cooperation mechanisms, the leaders' meeting is the highest-level mechanism and the core engine of the trilateral cooperation agenda. It is of decisive significance in promoting trilateral cooperation.

In 1999, China, Japan and South Korea held their first leaders’ meeting. Since 2008, the heads of the three countries have met separately outside international conferences and have taken turns to meet regularly.

Some analysts pointed out that the reason why the three countries decided to hold leaders' talks was to open up a higher-level platform to promote dialogue and cooperation among the three countries in various fields and to get rid of the shackles of unresolved issues in bilateral relations as much as possible.

The outside world believes that if the leaders' meeting is restarted at the end of this month, then the China-Japan-ROK cooperation mechanism will be fully restored, from the Senior Officials' Meeting to the Foreign Ministers' Meeting to the Leaders' Meeting, which is expected to lay a solid foundation for the trilateral cooperation to return to the right track and achieve steady and long-term progress. Base.

On the one hand, it will help promote regional trade, economic integration and cultural exchanges.

For example, the leaders of the three countries may send signals on resuming negotiations on the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Agreement.

On the other hand, it will promote communication and exchanges among the three countries, reduce distrust, further ease tensions, and create conditions for cooperation.

If the meeting is resumed, it will mean Prime Minister Li Qiang’s first visit to South Korea during his tenure and Fumio Kishida’s second visit to South Korea.

Japanese public opinion said that during the trilateral leaders' meeting, bilateral talks between China and Japan, China and South Korea, and Japan and South Korea may also be held.

As far as relations between China, Japan and South Korea are concerned, the United States is always considered the "elephant in the room", but observers say that in the competition between the United States and China, Japan and South Korea may not always side with the United States. If the leaders of the three countries can meet , China-Japan, China-South Korea and trilateral cooperation will all gain space.

In addition, restarting the trilateral leaders' meeting will also help the three parties seek consensus and solutions to resolve regional tensions.

As Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the China-Japan-ROK Foreign Ministers' Meeting, China, Japan and South Korea, as important countries in the Asia-Pacific, must be "leaders" in East Asia cooperation and "stabilizers" in maintaining regional peace and security.