South Korea is set to host its first trilateral summit in four years with China and Japan on Sunday, May 26th. Diplomats and officials say that after years of deteriorating relations with China, these three neighboring countries may find it challenging to make progress beyond superficial diplomacy.
President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday, followed by a trilateral meeting on Monday, May 27th, according to reports from Reuters.
Kang Jun-young, Director of the Center for International Area Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, mentioned that Chinese leader Xi Jinping will not attend the summit, so the agenda is unlikely to cover military, diplomatic, or security issues.
President Yoon’s office stated that the meeting agenda includes discussions on economic and trade cooperation, cultural exchanges, health and aging populations, science, and disaster response.
Amid Beijing’s ongoing provocations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, and deepening ties with Russia during the invasion of Ukraine, causing global concerns, US allies South Korea and Japan are increasingly distancing themselves from China.
Japanese Foreign Ministry officials indicated that they do not expect any major announcements to come out of the meeting. The Japanese government also mentioned on Friday that there hasn’t been a decision yet on whether a joint statement will be issued, partly due to scheduling difficulties in arranging the meeting.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin mentioned during a briefing on Thursday that Beijing hopes the summit will “inject new impetus into trilateral cooperation.”
Observers suggest that for China to make any progress, it must address South Korea and Japan’s growing concerns about difficulties in doing business or operating in China.
Japanese officials in Beijing expressed concerns about visas, employee safety, intellectual property protection, and the outlook for exporting automobiles to China in the coming years.
Senior Japanese lawmaker and former Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Akira Amari highlighted the opacity of China’s judicial system and arbitrary detention of foreign businessmen as another focal point of contention.
“If China and its government do not establish clear standards for foreign investment and personnel, they can detain or imprison individuals at will without these standards. If they continue to do so, investment will stagnate, and they will isolate themselves from the world,” he said.
Recent close relations between China’s partners, Russia and North Korea, have also raised concerns. While China displays military assertiveness around Taiwan and in the South China Sea, South Korea, Japan, and the US are enhancing their cooperation.
President Yoon Suk-yeol has been working towards improving relations with Japan, which had hit a standstill due to litigation by South Korean victims of forced labor under Japanese colonial rule. The US has been urging the two Asian allies to mend relations to ensure better cooperation on issues like North Korea and China.
President Yoon has also taken a more publicly aligned stance with Washington on trade and democracy issues, notably supporting Taiwan, while China claims Taiwan as its territory.
Amid the summit, China has been conducting large-scale military exercises around Taiwan in response to the inauguration of Taiwan’s new president, Tsai Ing-wen. Tsai has rejected China’s call for “unification,” emphasizing that Taiwan’s future should be determined by its people.
A Japanese official mentioned that discussions at the summit might involve the Taiwan issue, with the tone of such discussions likely influenced by recent military activities in the Taiwan Strait leading up to the summit.
Last year, President Yoon, in an exclusive interview with Reuters, condemned attempts to use force to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, an action that China later rebuked. In 2017, Yoon’s predecessor deployed the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea to better counter North Korea’s evolving missile threats, leading to an unofficial economic blockade by China against South Korea, resulting in ongoing tension in their relations.