( MENAFN - IANS) Seoul, May 27 (IANS) Leaders of South Korea, China and Japan were set to meet in Seoul on Monday for their first trilateral summit in over four years amid rising tension over North Korea's impending spy satellite launch. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang will sit down for a trilateral summit, the ninth such meeting and the first since December 2019, following a hiatus due to Covid-19 and historical disputes among the Asian neighbours, Yonhap news agency reported. The leaders are expected to explore cooperation in the economic, trade and health sectors while aiming to avoid friction, as Seoul and Tokyo have aligned more closely with Washington amid its intensifying rivalry with Beijing.
China is the largest trading partner of South Korea and Japan. The trilateral session will discuss ways to promote cooperation in six specific areas -- economy and trade, sustainable development, health issues, science and technology, disaster and safety management, and people-to-people exchanges. The leaders will adopt a joint statement on the outcome of the summit.
The trio will then attend a business forum to discuss ways to expand economic cooperation among the three nations, according to the presidential office. While security issues like North Korea's nuclear program are not among the official agenda items, they could feature in the discussions among the leaders as Pyongyang has notified Japan of its p.
