Senior diplomats from South Korea, China and Japan held three-way talks here Friday to discuss ways to enhance cooperation in counter-terrorism, cybersecurity and extremism.
Choi Sung-joo, South Korea’s ambassador for international security affairs, and his Chinese and Japanese counterparts, Liu Guangyuan and Tsukasa Kawada, led the one-day talks.
The trilateral consultation on counter-terrorism was last held in July 2012 and Friday’s talks are the latest sign of easing tensions among the three nations.
Japan’s relations with both South Korea and China have worsened in recent years because of their shared history and territorial disputes, but showed signs of a thaw.
The foreign ministers from South Korea, China and Japan held three-way talks in Seoul in March, marking the first such meeting in about three years. During the March meeting, they agreed to resume the trilateral consultation on counter-terrorism.
China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, told reporters that the Friday talks “will give a further boost to the political dialogue and practical cooperation among the three countries.”
“It will also be conducive to the security and stability of the three countries,” Hua said.
The next round of the three-way consultation will be held in South Korea next year, according to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry. (Yonhap)
S. Korea, China, Japan discuss counter-terrorism, cybersecurity
