China, Japan, South Korea Mull Holding First Trilateral Summit Since 2012

The governments of Japan, China and South Korea are considering the possibility of holding their first tripartite summit in three years, Japanese media reported Saturday.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — The summit could take place between September and November either in Seoul, Busan or on Jeju Island in South Korea, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported.

If the meeting is agreed, it would see the first face-to-face meeting between Tokyo and Seoul's leaders, the newspaper added. South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida are expected to confirm the leaders' decisions to hold the summit.

In recent years, Japan’s relations with South Korea, which was under Tokyo’s colonial rule between 1910 and 1945, have been icy over territorial disputes and controversies in interpretations of wartime history.

The China–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit was initially an annual meeting of the three states. The latest summit was held in Beijing in May 2012.

China, Japan, and South Korea restarted their trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting in spring, raising hopes for a possible summit among their leaders.