FMs of China, Japan, S Korea to hold talks

Top diplomats of South Korea and Japan plan to meet their Chinese counterpart in Beijing next week amid a flare-up in tension over trade and history, Seoul's foreign ministry said yesterday. Foreign ministers Kang Kyung-wha of South Korea, Taro Kono of Japan and Wang Yi of China will meet from Tuesday to Thursday, the ministry said. The last such gathering was three years ago. Kang and Kono are also expected to meet separately on the sidelines of the event, for the first time since South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday urged dialogue to mend ties. The ministry said the two-way talks had not yet been finalised. Ties between the neighbours are arguably at their lowest ebb since their relationship was normalised in 1965, hit by a heated feud over the issue South Korean forced labour during World War Two which spilled over into a bitter tit-for-tat trade row.