Japanese Media: "Postponement of Korea-China-Japan Summit Meeting Within This Year"

Issues Identified Including Forced Labor Victims Problem and COVID-19 Resurgence

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Je-hoon] The trilateral summit between South Korea, China, and Japan is expected to be postponed, reported Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun on the 3rd.

Nihon Keizai stated that a senior Japanese government official said, "Holding the (South Korea-China-Japan summit) within this year is already unrealistic." South Korea has been pushing to hold the trilateral summit within this year.

Nihon Keizai cited the Korea-Japan conflict as the reason for the postponement of the trilateral summit. The newspaper reported, "Due to the ongoing Korea-Japan conflict surrounding the issue of forced laborers (the Japanese term referring to victims of forced labor), an environment for the meeting has not been created," and added, "Japan's position is that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's visit to Korea is difficult unless the Korean government guarantees the suspension of the liquidation of Japanese companies' assets."

This implies that the position previously asserted by the Japanese government will not change, making the postponement of the trilateral summit inevitable.

Additionally, the resurgence of COVID-19 was pointed out as a major cause. The newspaper said, "South Korea is in the third wave of infections as daily domestic COVID-19 cases exceed 500," and "this is also one reason why the Moon Jae-in administration's summit diplomacy is being deprioritized."

Nihon Keizai predicted that the South Korean government will push for the trilateral summit as early as possible in early next year. Especially amid the uncertainty in the Korean Peninsula situation due to the change of administration in the United States, the trilateral summit is seen as an opportunity to achieve significant diplomatic outcomes, Nihon Keizai explained. Furthermore, considering the political schedules of South Korea and Japan and the procedures related to the forced labor compensation rulings, Nihon Keizai interpreted that the South Korean government appears to be trying to expedite the trilateral summit.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.