CANCELLATION OF TRILATERAL SUMMIT

[Anchor Lead]

The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has brought to a stop all large-scale diplomatic gatherings and events this year. One of them is an envisaged trilateral summit among South Korea, Japan and China. The cancellation of the summit will inevitably put the brakes on Seoul’s plan to discuss and settle thorny issues, like Japan’s wartime forced labor, through it.

[Pkg]

​The South Korean government continued efforts to host a trilateral summit with Japan and China within this year as scheduled, as it intended to hold a Seoul-Tokyo summit on the sideline to improve deadlocked bilateral relations. The government even considered postponing the liquidation of Japanese firms’ assets to compensate Korean victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor, until Tokyo hosts the Olympic Games next year. The ruling party strongly supported the idea.

[Soundbite] LEE NAK-YON(DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIRMAN(NOV. 13)) : "It’s the leaders’ role to hold a meeting and help resolve pending issues."

National Intelligence Agency Director Park Jie-won and ruling party lawmaker Kim Jin-pyo visited Japan and invited Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to the three-way summit. President Moon Jae-in explicitly expressed willingness to improve ties with Japan at a multilateral gathering. However, Suga remains adamant in urging Seoul to change its stance on the wartime forced labor issue.

[Soundbite] FUKUSHIRO NUKAGA(CHAIRMAN, JAPAN-KOREA PARLIAMENTARIANS’ UNION(NOV. 13)) : "Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga wants South Korea to present other measures to create a better environment."

South Korea will retain its presidency of the trilateral summit next year. But it's undecided when the event could take place, as it seems possible only after U.S. President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

[Soundbite] YANG KI-HO(PROFESSOR, SUNGKONGHOE UNIV.) : "Suga and Biden are scheduled to hold a summit in February. The U.S. is expected to call for improved Seoul-Tokyo ties during the session."

In addition to the issue of wartime forced labor, the incoming U.S. government’s call for improved Seoul-Tokyo relations will likely affect the three-way summit.