Park, Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will hold a three-way meeting here on November 1.
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A spokeswoman for the presidential Blue House said the South had proposed a summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Park Geun-Hye on the sidelines of a trilateral leadership meeting being held with China in Seoul next week.
Yet, it is too optimistic to expect reconciliation in a real sense will be realized by a single summit meeting, as the issues that have chilled relations between Japan and its neighbors are still there.
Meanwhile on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua said “China hopes the meeting will enhance China-Japan-South Korea cooperation in both traditional and new fields”. Trade ties have suffered between China and Japan as the two sides have squabbled over a set of disputed islands.
China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) are set to hold a first trilateral leaders’ meeting in three years, ending a period of diplomatic deadlock due to heightened regional tensions.
From a Japanese perspective, those events are being held against the background of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s August 14 statement marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, which has subsequently eased problems concerning historical perception, and the passage of security-related legislation in September to strengthen the security of Japan through collective self-defense.
Hua called on the three countries to continue partnerships in areas including trade, culture and sustainable development, and expand into new areas such as the economy, information technology and poverty reduction. Yoshihiko Noda, who headed the third DPJ administration, placed importance on the Japan-U.S. relationship, but his administration could not carry out a more extensive Asian diplomacy as its governmental purchase of the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture from its private owner led to the deterioration of ties with China.
Following the Yasukuni visit, I believe his stance vis-a-vis China and South Korea has been mostly calm and justifiable.
According to China’s Ministry of Commerce data, the combined GDP of the three nations exceeds $16 trillion in total, accounting for more than 20 per cent of the world. From 1910 to 1945, the Korean Peninsula was a Japanese colony.
Historians estimate that more than 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were coerced into sexual servitude at front-line Japanese brothels during the war.
The two currencies can now trade directly, cutting out the United States dollar.
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In efforts to boost China-South Korea trade and increase the use of the yuan in Korea, the two countries in December launched an offshore trading hub in Seoul for China’s yuan currency.
