Seoul: The leaders of South Korea, China and Japan say cooperation among the three countries are ‘completely restored’ after holding their first summit in more than three years on Sunday (1 November).

Setting aside historical animosities and territorial disputes to focus on shared security and trade concerns, South Korea President Park Geun Hye and Chinese and Japanese premiers Li Keqiang and Shinzo Abe temporarily set aside historical animosities to discuss shared security and trade concerns during a 90-minute meeting in Seoul.

‘We shared the view that trilateral cooperation has been completely restored on the occasion of this summit,’ they said in a lengthy joint statement issued after the meeting.

Park also said she has agreed with Li and Abe to work towards the conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a 16-nation free trade area. 

Beijing has been a key proponent of RCEP, which would create the world’s biggest free trade bloc of 3.4 billion people. China was especially keen to boost trade links as it seeks to inject some fresh momentum into its slowing economy.

Also high on the agenda was North Korea whose nuclear weapons ambitions pose a worry — and threat — to all three countries, including China, which is the North’s main diplomatic protector and economic benefactor.

The triumph of realpolitik will be capped on Monday by a first ever one-on-one summit between Park and Abe after an extended diplomatic freeze.

The trilateral gathering in Seoul resumes what was originally an annual process until tensions between North-east Asia’s three largest economies in 2012 triggered a lengthy hiatus.

Regional tensions

Lurking in the background are growing military tensions in the South China Sea between China and the United States, which is the chief military ally of both South Korea and Japan.

The trilateral meet actually falls slightly below the full summit level, with China represented by Premier Li Keqiang, rather than President Xi Jinping.

Observers say Li’s comparatively technocratic style should make it easier to keep the focus on economic cooperation and away from the sensitive issues that have dogged relations for decades.

Relations between Seoul and Tokyo have never been easy — clouded by sensitive historical disputes related to Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule over the Korean peninsula, especially the issue of Korean women forcibly recruited to work in Japanese wartime military brothels.

Park, who took office in early 2013, had until now repeatedly refused to meet Abe, saying Japan had yet to properly atone for its past actions.

China has similarly bitter memories of Japanese wartime aggressions and is also at odds with Tokyo over sovereignty of an island chain in the East China Sea.

‘A lot of baggage’

‘There’s a lot of baggage, but all three countries acknowledge it’s time to set that down for a while,’ said Kim Soung Chul, an international policy expert at the Sejong Institute think-tank in Seoul.

‘There are just too many common issues that need comprehensive discussion, and they are all under pressure at home and abroad to get this dialogue going again,’ Kim said.

No substantive breakthroughs are expected, although observers will be watching for any progress in efforts to seal a trilateral free-trade agreement.

Any such deal would provide a counterpoint to the new US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership of which China and South Korea are not members.

Park and Li met separately on Saturday, but the big sit down comes on Monday with the Park’s first summit with Abe.

Before flying to Seoul on Sunday morning, Abe said he expected a ‘frank exchange’ of views at the trilateral and added that he wanted Monday’s meeting with Park to be ‘meaningful’.

Their talks were only confirmed days before amid reports of behind-the-scenes bickering over how Japan’s wartime sex slavery might be addressed.

‘The summit is a big step forward for both countries,’ said Hideshi Takesada, a professor at Takushoku University in Tokyo.

‘The South Korean side has pinned its hopes on a Japanese compromise over history and the so-called comfort women issue, but it is unlikely to resolve this during the summit.

‘At best, the two sides would agree to continue their dialogue over the issue,’ Takesada said.