We met in person in Busan… Will Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi unpack the package for the Korea-Japan-China summit?

Wang Yi, a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Political Bureau and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa arrived in Busan on the 25th to attend the meeting of foreign ministers of Korea, Japan, and China to be held on the 26th.

With this meeting of foreign ministers, attention is focused on whether the trilateral summit will resume after an absence of four years.

Director Wang entered the country through Gimhae International Airport in Busan at 3:48 pm on this day. At his arrival hall, he smiled and avoided a direct answer to the reporter’s question, ‘What aspects will we discuss with Korea?’

It has been 2 years and 2 months since Director Wang visited Korea in September 2021.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa entered the country about 30 minutes before Director Wang. This is his first visit to Korea since taking office last September.

In an earlier contribution to Yonhap News, Foreign Minister Kamikawa said, “We will firmly support the efforts of Korea, the chair country, to ensure that the meeting between the foreign ministers of Korea, Japan, and China leads to the holding of a trilateral summit in the future.”

He added, “We would like to exchange constructive opinions on the future of Japan-South Korea-China cooperation in the post-corona era.”

It is reported that Minister Wang and Foreign Minister Kamikawa are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting in Busan this afternoon.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 24th that the 10th Korea, Japan, and China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting will be held in Busan on the 26th.

On the 26th, a meeting between the foreign ministers of Korea, Japan, and China will be held, followed by a luncheon meeting and a meeting of the foreign ministers of Korea, Japan, and China.

This is the first foreign ministers’ meeting between the three countries in four years and three months since August 2019.

At this meeting of the foreign ministers of Korea, Japan, and China, opinions are expected to be exchanged on major regional and international situations, including the agenda and timing of the trilateral summit and ways to develop cooperation between the three countries.

The trilateral summit meeting has been held a total of eight times since it first began in December 2008 during the Lee Myung-bak administration. The last 8th meeting was held in Chengdu, China in 2019.

There is speculation in the diplomatic world that the three countries will agree on a plan to hold a summit early next year, considering the difficulty in coordinating schedules between leaders at the end of the year.