South Korean President Moon Jae-in, right, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, left, Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe pose for photographers prior to their summit in Tokyo, Wednesday. / Reuters
The leaders of South Korea, Japan and China have pledged to cooperate in pushing for the denuclearization of North Korea and creating permanent peace in Northeast Asia.
President Moon Jae-in, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Premier Li Keqiang agreed on the joint efforts in a special statement they adopted following their trilateral summit in Tokyo, Wednesday.
The meeting came nearly two-and-a-half years after the previous one in November 2015. It also took place while talks have been underway among relevant nations over the North’s denuclearization and the establishment of a peace regime.
Moon, Abe and Li welcomed the two Koreas confirming the goal of “complete denuclearization” of the peninsula in the Panmunjeom Declaration announced after Moon’s April 27 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The leaders expressed expectation for the success of the upcoming Washington-Pyongyang summit, and agreed to make joint efforts so the inter-Korean summit can lead to peace and stability.
Moon expressed his gratitude to Abe and Li for supporting the Panmunjeom Declaration, adding the three countries’ cooperation will boost regional peace and prosperity. “I hope we can dissolve the world’s last remaining Cold War politics and bring peace to the world,” he said at the beginning of the summit.
The President told the two leaders that through candid talks with Kim at the inter-Korean summit, he could confirm his willingness for complete denuclearization. “Kim’s promise to disclose the shutdown of its Punggye-ri nuclear testing site to the international society shows his determination for success of the Washington-Pyongyang summit,” Moon was quoted as saying by presidential chief press secretary Yoon Young-chan.
Abe praised Moon’s efforts that led to the inter-Korean summit. But said the three leaders agreed on the thorough implementation of the U.N. Security Council’s sanctions on the North. “Using this situation as momentum, (the involved nations) will have to make efforts to completely and verifiably dismantle all of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction, ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons,” Abe said during a joint press conference after the meeting.
He also said Tokyo was willing to normalize ties with Pyongyang if the two countries could address various issues such as the nuclear program and the North’s abduction of Japanese citizens.
Li vowed China’s continued support for resolving the nuclear issue. “I expect dialogue to be resumed and the Korean Peninsula issue to be addressed through political means,” he said.
The three leaders also adopted another joint statement on practical cooperation to improve the quality of life for people in their countries, such as jointly fighting fine dust and pandemics as well as expanding personnel and cultural exchanges.
They also agreed to hold the trilateral meeting regularly ― the annual meeting, which began in 2008, had been halted since November 2015.
After the meeting, Moon and Abe had talks over lunch, agreeing to pursue future-oriented relations. They decided to resume “shuttle diplomacy,” marking 20 years since then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and then-Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi announced a joint declaration for partnership in 1998.
Later in the day, Moon and Li also had separate bilateral talks in which Li briefed Moon on meetings between Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Monday and Tuesday. The North Korean leader visited China and met Xi for a second time ― only 43 days after their first meeting ― to discuss his upcoming summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
