South Korea, Japan and China agree to talks to improve ties

The foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and China have agreed to hold talks to try to improve ties between the three regional powerhouses, which have been in deadlock over regional disputes and tensions over Japan's wartime history.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, his South Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se and Japan's Fumio Kishida were meeting for the first time in three years to try to restore a regular forum about relations.

“Based on the accomplishments achieved through this meeting, the three ministers decided to continue their efforts to hold the trilateral summit at the earliest convenient time for the three countries,” the three countries said in a joint communiqué after the meeting.

Awkward handshake

In November, Chinese president Xi Jinping shook hands with Japanese prime minister

Shinzo Abe

at the

Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation

summit in Beijing. While the handshake was a breakthrough, the awkward gesture seemed to indicate deep division, and was not followed up with any improvement in ties. Tensions between Japan and China over disputed islands in the East China Sea and Tokyo’s perceived failure to properly atone for second World War atrocities have fuelled the conflict.

Both China and Japan claim an archipelago – known as the Senkakus in Japan, to whom they officially belong, and the Diaoyus in China.

Beijing has become closer to the South Koreans, who also bear ill-will towards Japan over its wartime record, but Seoul's tight relations with Washington, its Korean War ally, rankle with Beijing, which believes the Americans are trying to win influence in the region.

South Korean president Park Geun-hye has yet to have a two-way summit with Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe, and South Korea and Japan are involved in a separate island dispute. In 1931, the Japanese army invaded Manchuria, which marked the start of the second World War for China. Between 13 and 20 million Chinese died in the conflict, and 100 million were left refugees.

Both Korea and China accuse Tokyo of failing to adequately atone for its wartime aggression, including the use of sex slaves. Mr Wang said a lot depended on Japan proving it was serious about recognising its wartime past.

"The war has been over for 70 years, but the problem with history remains a present issue, not an issue of the past," he said. Japan has signalled it may join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and Mr Wang said he hoped the South Koreans would also.

Regional interactions

China’s economic power has been matched by a desire to have a more defining role in regional affairs, both political and economic. China and Japan last year signed a four-point agreement to improve regional ties.

Mr Abe’s visits to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honours 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including war criminals, has also hit bilateral relations.