Japan, China, S. Korea Affirm Cooperation for N. Korea’s Denuclearization

May 9, 2018

Tokyo- The leaders of Japan, China and South Korea confirmed at their meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday that the three countries will work together for realizing the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, based on U.N. Security Council resolutions against North Korea.

In a joint declaration released late in the day, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and South Korean President Moon Jae-in also affirmed the three nations' intentions to speed up negotiations on concluding a free trade agreement among them and hold three-way summit talks on a regular basis.

At the meeting, Abe asked for cooperation from China and South Korea to resolve the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago. The joint declaration stressed that the Chinese and South Korean leaders support an early resolution of the issue through Japan-North Korea dialogue.

The declaration said that Japan, China and South Korea "are committed to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," adding that maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula and in Northeast Asia is "our common interest and responsibility."

Only the international cooperation on and the comprehensive resolution of concerns of the parties, in accordance with relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, "will pave the way for the bright future" for North Korea, it said.

Japan and the United States have been urging North Korea to completely scrap its nuclear and missile programs in a verifiable and irreversible manner. But the declaration stopped short of including such a demand.

The document said the leaders of China and South Korea hope that the abduction issue "will be resolved through dialogue (between Japan and North Korea) as soon as possible."

In a separate joint statement, the three leaders said they "especially appreciate and welcome" the Panmunjom Declaration, agreed between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at their meeting on April 27, which confirmed their common goal of the complete denuclearization of and the establishment of a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.

Abe, Li and Moon also said that they "strongly hope" that building on the result of the historic inter-Korean summit, further efforts by relevant parties, in particular through a planned summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump, will contribute to comprehensive resolution of concerns of the parties. The Trump-Kim meeting, the first U.S.-North Korea summit ever, is expected to take place by early June.

The announcement of the joint declaration and statement came about 12 hours after the end of the Abe-Li-Moon meeting, due to work between Japan and China to adjust the wording in the documents.

At a press conference after the three-way summit, Abe said that fully implementing the U.N. Security Council resolutions against North Korea is a common stance of Japan, China and South Korea, adding that the three countries will continue acting in concert.

Li noted that China welcomes the work on the Korean Peninsula denuclearization returning to the path of dialogue.

Moon said he expects and promises that the three nations will continue working closely together during the process of trying to establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.

At the day's summit, Li briefed Abe and Moon on Chinese President Xi Jinping's second meeting with Kim, held in the northeastern China city of Dalian earlier this week, after their first-ever meeting in late March in Beijing.

At the press conference, Abe stressed that there is no change in Japan's policy of seeking to normalize its relations with North Korea based on the 2002 Pyongyang Declaration after comprehensively resolving the nuclear, missile and abduction issues.

Li said that he pins hopes on the planned U.S.-North Korea summit and possible Japan-North Korea dialogue.

The 2002 declaration was agreed on at a historic summit in September that year between then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the late father of Kim Jong Un.

On the economic front, Abe, Li and Moon agreed to redouble efforts to conclude at an early time negotiations on the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, an FTA among Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India and the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The summit between Japan, China and South Korea was the first since one held in November 2015 in Seoul.

Wednesday's meeting was joined by Japanese Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso, Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi, and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.

Li and Moon visited Japan for the first time since they took office, in March 2013 and May 2017, respectively.

China is set to host the next summit among the three countries. Jiji Press