South Korea, Japan summit breaks diplomatic freeze

In contrast, South Korea’s trade with China rose to 21 percent of its total a year ago from just 4 percent in 1992, when they normalized ties. “We’ve agreed to accelerate talks for the earliest possible resolution”.

Japan has apologised in the past for the “pain and suffering” of the women, but South Korea wants a stronger apology and compensation for victims.

“The Saenuri Party praises that the two countries reached the agreement to further improve relations through today’s summit”, the party’s spokeswoman Shin Eui-jin said.

On Monday, Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye agreed to make an effort to settle the issue through dialogue at an early date, according to Park’s office.

Both Koreas still bitterly resent Japan’s brutal colonial occupation that was ended by World War II.

The three leaders were scheduled to hold a joint news conference later Sunday. He says the South Korean president won a diplomatic concession from the Japanese leader.

He said, “Prime Minister Abe slightly moved towards President Park’s demand on the necessity of resolving this issue by the end of this year”.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe echoes the same sentiment.

South Korea, Japan, and China have agreed to restore trade and security ties, in additon to economic co-operation, after the countries’ leaders held their first three-way discussions in more than three years. The talks had been suspended over historical disagreements and conflicting claims to islands in the Pacific.

Also high on the agenda was North Korea, whose nuclear weapons ambitions worry – and threaten – all three countries including China, the North’s main diplomatic protector and economic benefactor. They said they would push to resume stalled talks with the USA, Russian Federation and North Korea on the latters nuclear program and expressed hopes of getting their annual meetings back on track.

In 2009 Pyongyang walked out of talks with Washington, Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo and Moscow, and subsequently conducted three nuclear tests that have drawn global condemnation and increasing United Nations sanctions.

First tripartite summit was held in December 2008 in Fukuoka, hosted by Japan and the fifth one was held in Beijing in China in May 2012.

Even the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, former Foreign Minister in South Korea, welcomed the Summit Meeting which took place in Seoul, and lauded the leaders for resuming the trilateral meetings.

U.S.-China frictions include the U.S.’s attempt to block another China project, the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank, and their recent dispute over China’s activities in the South China Sea. Many in China also harbor similar resentment against Japan.

The defense chiefs were asked about the issue during an hour-long news conference, with Han stressing that any conflict should be resolved “in the framework of global law”.

Park and Li also witnessed the signing of deals on exporting South Korean manufacturing robots, rice and samgyetang – a ginseng chicken soup – to China, its largest trade partner, the report said.