Kishida: "Korea-China-Japan Summit... Discussion on North Korean Nuclear Issue and Japanese Abductees" (Comprehensive)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that he plans to discuss North Korea's nuclear and missile issues as well as the abduction of Japanese citizens at the Korea-China-Japan summit to be held in Seoul on the 27th.

In an interview with Kyodo News on the 24th, Prime Minister Kishida stated, "Korea, China, and Japan show subtle differences in views regarding the maintenance and strengthening of a free and fair international economic order," and emphasized, "If we can discuss sharing practical responses, it would be very meaningful."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He added, "We want to openly discuss various issues with each other and reach consensus so that future-oriented practical cooperation can be promoted in a wide range of fields," and expressed his intention to promote the regularization of the trilateral summit meetings.

The summit will be attended by President Yoon Suk-yeol, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, and Prime Minister Kishida. Kishida will depart on the 26th to hold a summit meeting with President Yoon and is also planning to hold talks with Premier Li Qiang.

On this day, Prime Minister Kishida also showed enthusiasm for announcing a joint document to mark the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan next year. He said, "We want to frankly exchange opinions on cooperation and linkage methods between Japan and Korea for a future befitting the new era and gather wisdom." It is expected that issues such as the Line Yahoo incident caused by administrative guidance from Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and compensation for forced labor victims during the Japanese colonial period will also be topics at this Korea-Japan summit.

Prime Minister Kishida also spoke about the Japan-China talks. Regarding his dialogue with Premier Li Qiang, he said, "I hope to frankly exchange opinions as part of communication at the summit level," and emphasized, "Furthermore, we aim to continue dialogue with top-level figures such as President Xi Jinping to gradually produce results on current issues and build constructive and stable relations."

If Prime Minister Kishida meets Premier Li Qiang face-to-face, China’s ban on imports of Japanese seafood is also expected to be raised. China blocked the import channels of Japanese seafood in response to the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (referred to by the Japanese government as 'treated water') into the ocean.

The three leaders will discuss cooperation measures in six areas at this meeting: human exchange, cooperation on climate change response and sustainable development, economic and trade cooperation, cooperation on health and aging response, cooperation on science, technology, and digital transformation, and cooperation on disaster and safety. The Korea-China-Japan summit, first held in Fukuoka, Japan in 2008, has been suspended since the 8th meeting held in Chengdu, China in 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other reasons.