The Trilateral Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Japan, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea
- Summary -

July 30, 2002

From 08:15 to 09:20 on 30 July, the three Foreign Ministers held a breakfast meeting in the State of Brunei Darussalam, hosted by Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi. The main points of the meetings were as follows:

1. Economic Areas

(1) Against the background that the economic interdependence among the three countries continue to deepen year after year and that the necessity for the three countries to work together has become increasingly important, the three Foreign Ministers agreed to further intensify the collaboration for the future.

(2) The three Foreign Ministers welcomed the progress made in the Joint Research on Economic Cooperation among Japan, China, and the Republic of Korea. The Ministers agreed on the continued implementation of the Joint Research.

(3) Japan proposed that, in order to strengthen energy security in North-Eastern Asia, the consultation be carried out at a working level on the direction of specific collaboration. To this, both China and the Republic of Korea gave their assent.

(4) Japan also requested active participation and cooperation of China and the Republic of Korea to the Ministerial-level Meeting on the Initiative for Development in East Asia (IDEA). Both countries expressed support for the Initiative.

(5) The Republic of Korea requested that the governments of Japan and China make an appeal to the private sector for the active participation to the first meeting of "the Joint Business Forum for Japan, China, and the Republic of Korea" to be held in Seoul in October.

2. Cultural and People-to-People Exchanges

(1) The three Foreign Ministers agreed to continue the close cooperation among the three counties for the success of "Year of Japan-China-the Republic of Korea National Exchange". Japan introduced as examples of specific projects "Japan-China-the Republic of Korea Young Leaders' Program", "Japan-China-Republic of Korea Lecture Tour in Japan" and "North-East Asia Intellectual Leaders' Dialogue". Both China and the Republic of Korea expressed strong intention to take part in these programs. The Republic of Korea made an appeal for the support of Japan and China for the successful implementation of "BeSeTo Opera".

(2) The Republic of Korea stated that, based on the success of the FIFA World Cup 2002, it hopes to have more active sports exchanges among the three countries. China, on their part, expressed hope to share the experience of co-hosting the World Cup by Japan and the Republic of Korea for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

3. Transnational Issues

(1) The three Foreign Ministers also agreed on the collaboration among Japan, China and the Republic of Korea in coping with "Transnational Issues" such as terrorism, international crime, piracy and environment.

(2) China proposed to hold the ASEAN+3 Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime. Japan and the Republic of Korea responded that they would give positive consideration to the proposal.

4. Other Issues

Japan proposed to hold this meeting regularly on the occasion of ASEAN+3 Foreign Ministers' Meeting and designate senior officials to Senior Officials Meetings (SOM) in order to coordinate proposed agenda and help prepare for Foreign Ministers' Meetings. Both China and the Republic of Korea agreed to this. It was decided that the Republic of Korea would host the next Trilateral Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Japan, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea.