Seoul: The foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan, and China will hold their first trilateral talks since 2019 this weekend in Busan, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Friday.

The Sunday meeting in the southern port city will see Park Jin, Yoko Kamikawa and Wang Yi huddle against the backdrop of Beijing’s growing concerns over Tokyo and Seoul’s deepening security ties with Washington.

The announcement comes days after North Korea successfully placed its first military spy satellite into orbit, prompting the suspension of a five-year-old military accord between the two Koreas intended to de-escalate tensions on the peninsula.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned earlier this month that military ties between North Korea and Russia were “growing and dangerous” and called on China, Pyongyang’s main ally, to restrain the nuclear-armed North.

At the upcoming meeting, the foreign ministers “plan to exchange opinions extensively on the direction of development of trilateral cooperation, regional and international situations,” Seoul’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The top diplomats will also set the table for a future trilateral summit between the three countries’ leaders, it added.

AFP