South Korea has agreed with China and Japan to hold a three-way summit in May to discuss ways to boost economic, environmental and cultural cooperation, Japan’s Kyodo News Agency reported Tuesday.

The summit is to be chaired by Japan and attended by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, possibly on May 8-9, the report said.

The last such trilateral summit was held about two years ago in November 2015 in Seoul. 



Moon would be the first South Korean president to visit Japan since former President Lee Myung-bak’s did so in December 2011. 

“Our stance regarding the trilateral summit is the faster it happens the better. But not before the inter-Korean talks,” said an official at Cheong Wa Dae.

Kyodo News Agency also expects Abe to discuss issues regarding Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women with Moon.

During a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, Li shared plans to visit Japan in the first of this year for a summit, making him the first Chinese premier to visit Japan since Wen Jiabao in May 2011.

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)