June 2, 2024

The trilateral summit between Japan, China and South Korea took place on May 27 in Seoul for the first time since December 2019. After the meeting, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol published a joint declaration.

The joint declaration covers various areas such as economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. On the other hand, stating that the three leaders reiterated their positions on regional peace and stability as well as on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the document admits to a failure to reach an agreement on this issue. This shows a turning away from the 2019 summit document which states that both the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the creation of a peace structure in the region will be realized through resolving concerns of the parties.

In Northeast Asia, where a regional structure for dialogue has yet to be established, a regular Japan-China-South Korea summit, since its first meeting in 2008, has functioned as a rare mechanism for top-level communication and cooperation even amid increasing tensions in the region. In order to promote peace cooperation in Northeast Asia as sought by the trilateral framework, the need is to return to the agreement made in the 2019 document to work on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of a permanent peace on the peninsula in an integrated manner.

The Japanese Communist Party in its proposal “Peace Creation in East Asia,” which was published in April, pointed out the importance of promoting efforts toward realizing a denuclearized Korean Peninsula and the building of a peace structure in Northeast Asia step-by-step in an integrated manner. It also pointed out that this is the only realistic approach to settling security concerns among countries in the region.

Past related article:
> Shii publishes JCP diplomatic proposal for peacebuilding in East Asia [April 18, 2024]