South Korea, China, Japan in talks to hold trilateral summit from May 26-27

South Korea is in final consultations with China and Japan to hold a long-stalled trilateral summit of their leaders on May 26 and 27, according to the foreign ministry.

“South Korea, Japan and China agreed to hold the summit at the earliest date convenient for all sides,” an official at the ministry said. “We have been in consultations with Japan and China as the current chair country.”

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang are expected to visit Seoul to meet with President Yoon Suk Yeol as South Korea is the current rotating chair, Yonhap news agency reported.

The trilateral summit was last held in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu in December 2019.

The summit has been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and deterioration in Seoul-Tokyo relations over the issue of compensating Korean victims of forced labour during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Talks of reviving the summit gathered momentum amid a dramatic warming of Seoul-Tokyo relations after South Korea said in March last year it would compensate the Korean victims on its own without asking for contributions from Japanese companies.