KUALA LUMPUR (Kyodo) — Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya on Thursday called for boosting “future-oriented cooperation” among the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Japan, China and South Korea, building on a similar accord reached by the three non-ASEAN countries in March.
At the outset of the ASEAN-plus-three meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Iwaya said the trilateral process involving Japan, China and South Korea has “synergy effects” with the three nations’ collaboration with the regional bloc.
“We will continue to work closely together with China and South Korea so that we can advance future-oriented cooperation that will also contribute to ASEAN” nations, Iwaya said.
As for potential areas of cooperation, the minister pointed to common challenges in the region such as aging societies, disaster prevention, food security and efforts to tackle cross-border online fraud.
Iwaya also expressed concern over deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, and called for the complete denuclearization of the latter, which continues to advance its missile and nuclear development, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi and South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon Joo also took part in the meeting.
Japan, the current chair of the trilateral framework, agreed with its two neighbors in March in Tokyo to speed up preparations for a summit meeting “at the earliest convenient time,” which would follow one held in May 2024 in Seoul. At that time, Iwaya said the next summit needs to be held “by the end of this year.”
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
