Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing agree on “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” at tripartite summit

Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing have reaffirmed their commitment to a "nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" and peace which is in their &common interest", Monday during a tripartite summit where The leaders of the three neighboring states promised to strengthen their cooperation and encourage the conclusion of a trilateral free trade agreement.

The meeting in Seoul marks the first tripartite summit in five years between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Pyongyang was not officially on the agenda for the talks, but a satellite launch announced as imminent by nuclear-armed North Korea brought the North Korean issue into the spotlight with a bang. the summit.

Before the meeting, Pyongyang had informed the Japanese coast guard of the opening in the night from Sunday to Monday of a spy satellite launch window for eight days, a shot that would violate UN sanctions against North Korea.

According to Seoul, the North benefits from space assistance from Moscow in exchange for arms deliveries to Russian troops in Ukraine. In November, Pyongyang successfully placed a spy satellite into orbit for the first time.

MM. Yoon and Kishida urged Pyongyang to call off the launch, which Yoon said would harm “regional and global peace and stability” and should provoke a “decisive” response from the international community if carried out.

“We reiterate our positions on peace and stability in the region, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” the leaders wrote in a joint statement, affirming their desire to “continue positive efforts for a political settlement” of the question.

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“The denuclearization of North Korea and stability on the Korean Peninsula are in the common interests of the three countries,” declared Fumio Kishida, when Chinese Premier Li asked “the parties concerned to exercise restraint and “to prevent the situation from becoming further complicated”, according to the state agency Xinhua.

China is North Korea's largest trading partner as well as a strong diplomatic ally. She has in the past refused to condemn Pyongyang's weapons tests, and criticized the joint maneuvers of Washington and Seoul.

– Strengthening cooperation –< /p>

For this first three-way summit in five years, Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing agreed to strengthen their trilateral cooperation by regularly organizing summits of this type.

On the economic side, the three capitals will encourage the conclusion of a tripartite free trade agreement and strive to “accelerate the negotiations”, they declared in a joint press release.

Mr. Yoon also said the three states had “decided to create a transparent and predictable environment for trade and investment, and establish a secure supply chain.”

At the summit, Chinese Premier Li called on Tokyo and Seoul “not to turn economic and trade issues into political games or security issues, and to reject protectionism and the decoupling or breaking of chains supply”, reported the state agency Xinhua.

After their discussions, the three politicians joined business leaders in attending at an economic summit aimed at strengthening trade between the three countries.

“This meeting is important because it is the only regular channel of communication where the leaders of the South Korea and Japan, both allies of the United States, can meet the Chinese leader,” it was written in an editorial published Monday in the South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh before the summit, which announced “unlikely that (the summit) achieves significant results” on the diplomatic level.

Yoon Suk Yeol, president of South Korea since 2022, seeks to improve his country's relations with Japan, a former colonial power, faces growing threats from Pyongyang. Tokyo and Seoul are key allies of the United States in Asia.

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