Summit Postponed

[Anchor Lead]

Japan has officially announced its decision to postpone the upcoming trilateral Korea-China-Japan summit to next year. Observers say Tokyo's decision stems from the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.

[Pkg]

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida held a news conference directly after a cabinet meeting to notify South Korea and China of its intention to postpone the trilateral Korea-China-Japan summit, which was initially scheduled to take place this year.

[Soundbite] Fumio Kishida(Japanese Foreign Minister) : "Due to the recent circumstances, we have decided to re-schedule the summit and hold it next year at an appropriate time."

Annual trilateral summits among the three Northeast Asian nations began in 2008. They were suspended in 2012 over Japan's distortions of history, and resumed in November last year in Seoul. This year, the summit was slated for December 19 in Tokyo, where it was to last two days, but prospects have become unclear due to the Choi Soon-sil scandal in Korea and a lukewarm response from China. Beijing also showed a negative response to the possibility of prime minister Hwang Kyo-ahn attending the summit in place of president Park Geun-hye, whose authority has been suspended. The Japanese foreign minister said that Japan, as a host-nation, will try to schedule the next summit early next year.