Foreign ministers of Japan, China and South Korea agree to aim for summit to be held within the year, but South Korea's political situation remains a cause for concern

The foreign ministers of Japan, China and South Korea held a meeting in Tokyo on the 22nd of this month. They confirmed that they would continue to promote "future-oriented" cooperation in areas such as people-to-people exchanges, trade and public health.
They also agreed to work together to hold a summit meeting among the three nations as soon as possible. Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters, "We have to hold the summit meeting by the end of the year."
The three countries' foreign ministers' meeting will be the first since the one held in Busan, South Korea in November 2023. The meeting was attended by Iwao, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yol, and Chinese Politburo member and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The meeting lasted for about an hour and 20 minutes. At the beginning, Iwaya said, "The international situation is becoming increasingly severe, and we are at a historical turning point. It is now important to make efforts to overcome division and conflict through dialogue and cooperation.
"It is more important than ever to have a future-oriented relationship with Japan and the United States," he said. The three leaders agreed to promote mutual understanding through people-to-people exchanges and to work together on common issues such as strengthening cooperation in the economy and disaster prevention, and addressing common challenges such as the declining birthrate and aging population.
On the same day, Iwaya and Cho also held separate meetings. According to South Korean news agency Yonhap News, Cho told reporters that during the meeting, they discussed the need for the development of bilateral relations in recent times in Japanese and Korean society as a whole.
"We shared the view that we will promote further strengthened cooperation based on a common understanding," he said. In addition, South Korea's President Yoon Seok-yeol declared "emergency martial law" in December last year.
He said that despite the ongoing political turmoil that has followed since the incident, he reaffirmed the basic tone of relations between the two countries and confirmed Japan's support and trust for Korean democracy.
The two countries also held a meeting of their foreign ministers on the same day. According to Yonhap, the restoration of cultural exchanges between the two countries will further develop practical cooperation between the two countries, including mutual understanding between their peoples.
The Chinese government has imposed a "ban on Korea" order to restrict the inflow of Korean culture, such as K-POP, Korean TV series, and movies, into China, but
In response to the fact that both foreign ministers Cho and Wang expressed their willingness to restore cultural exchanges at the meeting, Yonhap said, "We will continue to take a firm stance in light of China's future stance."
At a joint press conference after the tripartite foreign ministers' meeting, Iwaya said, "We exchanged frank opinions from a broad perspective on Japan-China-ROK cooperation and regional and international situations.
"We confirmed that we will continue to work closely together among the three countries to ensure that today's results are carried over to the next summit," Cho said.
Regarding the situation on the Korean Peninsula, the ROK, Japan and China confirmed that maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula is a common interest and responsibility for the three countries.
"I hope that communication will continue," Wang said. "With the international situation changing rapidly and the recovery of the global economy weak, China, Japan and South Korea need to further strengthen communication with each other."
The three foreign ministers also agreed to accelerate efforts to hold a three-way summit at an early date. The first Japan-China-South Korea summit was held in May last year, about four and a half years ago.
After the meeting, the three leaders, then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, and South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol, adopted a joint declaration. They agreed to hold regular Japan-China-South Korea summits in the future, and to strengthen cooperation in the economic
- They have confirmed that they will cooperate in six areas, including trade. Japan will be the chair country, and the Japanese government had initially aimed to hold the summit in May of this year. However, in South Korea, President Yoon declared "emergency martial law" in December last year.
The declaration of independence led to political turmoil and the unstable situation continues to this day. The impeachment motion against Yoon was passed by the National Assembly, and Yoon was suspended from his duties. The presidency is currently being held by Choi Sang-mok.
The Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Planning and Finance is acting as Prime Minister. Given this situation, it is unclear whether a tripartite summit will be held anytime soon.