Yoon also held a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, during which he urged careful management of the dispute surrounding the popular messaging app Line to prevent it from becoming “an unnecessary pending issue” between the two countries.

The bilateral meetings came a day before the three leaders sit down for their first trilateral summit in four years and five months.

The trilateral summit has been widely accepted as a test bed for gauging if the Northeast Asian neighbors can normalize and restore their cooperative framework. As a prelude to the summit, the leaders engaged in bilateral meetings to narrow their differences in key areas of interest.

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, second from right, during their meeting at the former’s office in central Seoul’s Yongsan District, Sunday. Joint Press Corps

According to South Korean First Deputy Director of National Security Kim Tae-hyo, Yoon and Li agreed to set up a Korea-China security and diplomatic dialogue, with the first session planned for next month.

As a two-plus-two discussion body, the dialogue will involve Seoul’s vice foreign minister, a director-level official from the defense ministry and their Chinese counterparts.

“President Yoon stressed that the two countries should maintain close communications under all circumstances, which will enable them to respect each other, pursue common interests and shape regional peace and prosperity,” Kim said, adding the leaders agreed to resume a string of bilateral dialogues involving both governments and private sectors.

During his opening remarks, Yoon said “South Korea and China should cooperate closely for not only our bilateral relations, but also for the peace and prosperity of the global community” and he hopes “the two countries will continue strengthening their exchanges and cooperation, respecting each other and pursuing mutual interests.”

This was Li’s first visit to Korea after he became premier in March last year. The previous meeting between Yoon and Li was in September last year on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The meeting bears significance as the two countries have been working to improve their bilateral relations, which have been facing difficulties in the wake of the escalating rivalry between the United States and China, South Korea’s growing inclination toward the U.S. and North Korea’s increasing belligerence.

Regarding North Korea, Yoon stressed that China should play its role in containing the regime’s growing missile and nuclear threats.

“Yoon asked China, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, to play its role as the bastion of peace, amid the North’s repeated provocations and military cooperation with Russia,” a senior presidential official said.

First Deputy Director of National Security Kim Tae-hyo speaks during a press briefing on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s bilateral meetings with the leaders of China and Japan at the presidential office in Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap

On the economic front, Yoon and Li agreed to promote bilateral trade and economic partnerships, by resuming the second phase of their free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations.

The South Korea-China FTA will mark its 10th anniversary next year, but its effectiveness has been questioned due to the relatively narrow range of products subjected to tariff benefits compared to South Korea’s other free trade pacts.

To this end, the two sides’ representatives will meet early next month to resuscitate the stalled negotiations. The second phase will cover a broader range of exchanges between the two countries in the fields of culture, tourism and legal services.

To further promote exchanges, the two sides also agreed to resume the South Korea-China Investment Cooperation Committee, which has been inactive since 2011.

“During the past three decades of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the bilateral relations promptly achieved abundant progress, especially in the fields of economy and trade, bringing huge benefits to the people of both countries,” Li said during his opening remarks. “China wishes to work together with South Korea so that the two countries can become reliable and good neighbors and partners who support each other’s success.”

President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida before their summit at the former’s office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap

Hours later, Yoon sat down with Kishida and exchanged cordial remarks over their efforts to mend the two countries’ soured relations last year. They also explored ideas on enhancing bilateral partnerships in practical areas before the two countries celebrate the 60th anniversary of normalizing their diplomatic ties next year.

It was the first Yoon-Kishida summit this year, after they had seven summits last year alone as part of the two countries’ efforts to normalize their diplomatic relations.

During the summit, the leaders also exchanged their opinions on the controversy surrounding the Japanese administrative guidance issued to LY Corp., the operator of the popular messaging app Line, which is controlled by a 50-50 joint venture between South Korea’s Naver and Japan’s SoftBank.

The guidance, issued in March and again in April, urged LY Corp. to review its capital relationship with Naver following a massive data leak of user information last November, triggering controversies and criticisms in South Korea that the Japanese government is seeking to take Line away from Naver.

“Yoon said that he understands the guidance does not mean that Naver should sell down its stake, and the South Korean government perceives this issue separately from the diplomatic relations between the two countries,” the senior official said.

“The president thus said that the two countries should manage this issue carefully to prevent it from becoming an unnecessary pending issue.”

Kishida replied that the guidance is understood in line with the Japanese government’s stance to promote foreign companies’ investments into Japan, and it is aimed at guiding the company to review its “security governance related to the data leak,” according to the official.

During the summit, the leaders also agreed to establish a bilateral dialogue on the hydrogen economy within next month, to capitalize on the two countries’ respective expertise in hydrogen energy. The dialogue will explore bilateral cooperation for setting up hydrogen energy standards and policies.

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The official development assistance (ODA) for 2024 marks a 38.9 percent on-year increase from the size of last year and will be implemented in various areas from humanitarian aid, education and agriculture to health, to help the recipient countries overcome problems like conflict and climate change, the ministry said.

The government finalized the ODA plan during an interagency meeting, presided over by Second Vice Foreign Minister Kang In-sun.

A total of 46 government agencies will get involved to carry out 1,699 bilateral and multilateral ODA projects this year, the ministry added.

The ODA includes the direct provision of grants, loans and technical assistance to developing countries or indirect ones to international organizations.

South Korea offers grants and concessional loans. Grants require no repayments from the recipient countries, while loans refer to transfers made in cash or goods on concessional terms that come with repayment obligation.

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Although the military did not specify what measures it could take, analysts believe that South Korea’s next move is most likely to involve the partial suspension of an inter-Korean military pact signed on Sept. 19, 2018, also known as the Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA).

Military authorities anticipate that the launch — which would be the North’s third attempt following two botched endeavors earlier this year — could take place as early as this week.

“The North Korean regime must face the stark reality of unanimous condemnation by the international community over its illegal actions. We strongly warn them to immediately cease the ongoing preparations for the launch of a military reconnaissance satellite,” Lt. Gen. Kang Ho-pil, chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), said during a media briefing.

“If North Korea proceeds with the launch despite the warning, our military will take necessary measures to protect the safety of our people,” he added, without elaborating on what specific measures Seoul plans to take.

Monday’s announcement by the JCS was unusual in that South Korea normally condemns North Korea’s military provocations after they take place, rather than issuing a warning in advance.

Experts said the rare warning issued through a public briefing can be seen as a preliminary step to scrap the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement.

The military agreement, signed by the previous Moon Jae-in government, has been criticized by the incumbent administration for restricting South Korea’s reconnaissance capabilities near the border.

“It is extremely rare for the government to issue a warning before North Korea conducts a military provocation. It seems that the announcement was aimed at developing a rationale to nullify the military pact if North Korea proceeds with the satellite launch, a position held by our military since Defense Minister Shin Won-sik took office,” said Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, a think tank.

During Monday’s briefing, Kang mentioned that Pyongyang violated the inter-Korean military agreement more than 3,400 times so far, beginning with artillery fire drills conducted in November of 2019 on the islet of Changrin near the maritime border separating the two Koreas, which is called the Northern Limit Line (NLL).

“The behavior exhibited by North Korea so far clearly indicates a lack of any willingness to comply with the agreement,” Kang said.

However, the South Korean military did not immediately confirm whether the “necessary measures” would involve the suspension of the military agreement.

“It is not a matter for the JCS to decide. We believe it is an issue that will be addressed after a review by related government agencies,” a JCS official told reporters during a closed-door briefing later in the day.

Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, also viewed that the warning reflects the South Korean government’s intention to partially suspend the military pact following the North Korean satellite launch.

But at the same time, the professor stressed that the South Korean government should be prudent about making the first move to scrap the agreement, which may come at the cost of increased military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

“I do agree that the agreement limits reconnaissance capabilities and some of the clauses of the pact are flawed. But there are some positive aspects of the military agreement, such as bringing stability to the NLL,” he said.

“Plus, if the South becomes the first one to officially declare the end of the agreement, it could raise eyebrows in the international community,” Park added.

Another expert on North Korea, asking not to be named, said South Korea could face a dilemma over the suspension of the Sept. 19 agreement.

“I think the government has not properly reviewed the consequences of suspending the military agreement. Once scrapped, there’s no going back,” he said. “And from what I understand, the United States does not support the idea of suspending the agreement. The U.S. doesn’t want more tensions on the peninsula.”

During a joint press conference with South Korea’s defense minister in Seoul last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the two sides “agreed to stay in close consultation going forward” on the suspension of the military agreement.

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Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi of Japan says North Korea launched at least one ballistic missile, which was believed to have fallen in seas near the country’s eastern coast, according to preliminary estimates. According to Kishi, Japan has made a formal complaint with North Korea via its embassy in Beijing.

According to the South Korean military, the missiles went around 430 kilometers, reaching an altitude of approximately 36 kilometers at one point. There have been no initial reports of damage, according to the senior Japanese government official. The latest launch comes after two others on Tuesday and January 5, both of which North Korea claimed was hypersonic missiles.

“Regrettable,” says South Korea’s President Moon Jae In, of the recent sequence of rocket launches. North Korea asserts that strengthening national defense capability is a fundamental prerogative of a sovereign state to pursue.

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Park, 69, was the country’s first democratically elected leader to be thrown out of office when the Constitutional Court upheld a parliamentary vote in 2017 to impeach her over a scandal that also led to the imprisonment of the chiefs of two conglomerates, Samsung and Lotte.

South Korea’s top court in January upheld a 20-year prison sentence imposed after Park was found guilty of colluding with a friend, who is also in jail, to receive tens of billions of won from the companies, mostly to fund her friend’s family and non-profit foundations.

President Moon Jae-in granted a special pardon to Park last week, citing her deteriorating health and expressing hope to “overcome unfortunate past history and promote national unity”.

Broadcasters showed Park leaving a Seoul hospital, where she had stayed since last month for medical treatment after correction officials delivered a letter of pardon at midnight.

She did not comment but her lawyer has said Park, the daughter of a former military ruler, had offered an apology for causing public concern and thanked Moon for making a “tough decision”.

Park’s release comes as her old party, the main opposition conservative People Power Party, and Moon’s Democratic Party are in a tight presidential race.

Her imprisonment divided the country, with right-wing, pro-Park groups staging weekly rallies to denounce Moon and his policies and call for Park’s release, until COVID-19 distancing rules stifled the rallies last year.

Hundreds of Park’s supporters braved freezing temperatures to flock to the hospital where she was staying late on Thursday to celebrate her release, with more than 1,000 bouquets of flowers arriving.

About 200 people held a protest in downtown Seoul against her release, the Yonhap news agency reported.

It was not clear if Park would resume any political activity but she said in a memoir released on Thursday that her conviction was politically motivated and she expressed hopes to “meet the people again one day”.

People Power’s presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, who investigated the Park scandal as prosecutor-general, said on Friday he had done his job as a public servant, adding he would like to visit Park when her health improved.

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Mori and South Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-Kun were scheduled to appear alongside US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman at a press conference scheduled after the three held talks over regional issues, including North Korea’s nuclear program, in Washington on Wednesday.

But Sherman was by herself to take questions from reporters, saying there were some “bilateral differences” between Seoul and Tokyo, “that were continuing to be resolved” and “unrelated” to the earlier three-way meeting.

“Japan has conveyed (to us) that it cannot attend the conference, as they took issue with South Korea’s head of police visiting Dokdo,” Choi told reporters in Washington. “So we agreed that the US, the host of the trilateral talks, would hold a solo news conference to announce the outcome of the Korea-US-Japan vice-ministerial talks because we recognized their importance.”

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Thursday that the government decided it was “inappropriate” to hold a joint conference amid the ongoing dispute over the islet.

The long-running row over who rightfully controls Dokdo, which is known as Takeshima in Japan, escalated again after Kim Chang-Yong, commissioner-general of South Korea’s National Police Agency, visited the islets on Wednesday to encourage officials working in the area. It marked the first time in 12 years that the incumbent police chief had visited the easternmost islands, which Japan has persistently laid claim to but South Korea has been in effective control of since 1954.

Japan immediately lodged a protest with the South Korean government, stressing the islets are an “inherent part” of Japanese territory.

The Dokdo spat continued during the bilateral talks between Choi and Mori, which were held after their three-way talks. Their meeting marked the first in-person high-level talks between the squabbling neighbors since Japan’s new prime minister, Fumio Kishida, took office last month.

The Foreign Ministry here said the Japanese diplomat mentioned the Dokdo issue during the talks and Choi, in response, said South Korea could not accept any kind of Japanese claim over the islets.

Besides Dokdo, the two discussed key historical issues that have been at the center of their bilateral feud but appeared to have failed to narrow the gaps.

During their meeting, Choi explained South Korea’s position on the historical issues, including forced labor and wartime sex slaves, and called for bilateral consultations to resolve the matter. He also explained Seoul’s position on Tokyo’s decision to discharge radioactive wastewater from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea and Japan’s export curbs.

In turn, Mori explained Japan’s position on the matter.

Seoul-Tokyo relations have been at their lowest ebb in recent years, due to historic disputes rooted in Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula that has morphed into an ongoing economic feud.

The flare-up of tension between the neighbors alarms the US, which is pushing for strengthening three-way cooperation with its key Asian allies against China’s growing assertiveness and nuclear-armed North Korea.

Despite the apparent clash, Sherman said the earlier three-way meeting was “friendly, constructive, substantive” and lasted more than three hours.

Sherman said the US was “very satisfied” with the consultations with South Korea and Japan on the best way to ensure the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

But she declined to comment directly on whether the US supports Seoul’s proposal to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War, and said the US and its allies “are having good consultations” and will continue to do so.

Upon his arrival in Washington on Sunday, Choi said he expected a “good result” soon in the Seoul-Washington discussions on the end-of-war declaration, indicating there could be some progress toward an agreement.

Choi told reporters after the meeting that the Seoul government, too, is satisfied with the “speed and direction” of the ongoing talks on the end-of-war declaration.

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