Top Diplomats Kick Off Japan, China, S.Korea Meeting

TOKYO, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23th August, 2016) : Foreign ministers from Japan, China and South Korea kicked off a two-day meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday with their countries at odds over territorial disputes, a US missile defence system and perennial regional problem North Korea. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, China's Wang Yi and South Korea's Yun Byung-Se met for dinner at a Tokyo hotel ahead of the start of formal talks on Wednesday. The three shook hands and smiled for cameras without making any remarks before starting their meal. The talks are the first since March of last year and come ahead of the Group of 20 summit in China early next month.

"It is extremely important for the foreign ministers of the three countries that play major roles in the region to gather together and exchange opinions frankly," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters earlier. The meeting comes as Sino-Japanese tensions over a territorial dispute have spiked this month, while China and South Korea have sparred over the planned deployment in the latter country of a US anti-missile system.

The Tokyo-Seoul relationship is also prone to periodic tension due to the legacy of Japan's wartime aggression.