China, Japan, South Korea foreign ministers meet in Beijing amid strained ties

Reuters - Foreign ministers from China, Japan and South Korean vowed to strengthen trilateral relations in a meeting on the outskirts of Beijing on Wednesday (August 21). Ties between Japan and South Korea are arguably at their lowest ebb since their relationship was normalized in 1965, hit by a heated feud over the issue South Korean forced labor during World War Two which spilled over into a bitter tit-for-tat trade row. Foreign ministers Kang Kyung-wha of South Korea, Taro Kono of Japan and China's Wang Yi shook hands and posed for the media before sitting down to talks. Kang and Kono are also expected to meet separately on the sidelines of the event, the first meeting between the two counterparts since South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged dialogue between the two countries to mend ties last week. This is the ninth such trilateral meeting, the last being three years ago. From 2008, the three countries had agreed to hold a summit every year to foster regional cooperation. But bilateral tension, including that between China and Japan, has often intervened.