South Korea, Japan, and China brought together their foreign ministers Saturday for the first time in nearly three years to try to strengthen their relations, which have been battered by territorial disputes and historical conflicts.
South Korea's Yun Byung Se, Japan's Fumio Kishida and China's Wang Yi expressed in a joint statement their hope that the "trilateral cooperation mechanism" would again go into effect. The mechanism formalized cooperation among the three countries, and a secretariat was established for it in 2011. dpa reported.
The ministers also indirectly called upon North Korea to cease developing nuclear weapons.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hailed the meeting, saying through a spokesman that he expected the leaders of the three countries to hold a joint summit "at an early date as agreed by the three ministers. He further encourages the concerned parties to work closely to promote mutual trust and future-oriented cooperation for the peace and prosperity in the region."