Resumption of ROK-China-Japan trilateral summit is progress in itself but there should be more

Looking back at the ninth ROK-China-Japan Trilateral Summit Meeting in Seoul from May 26-27, the first thing that came to my mind was the Korean proverb, “Well begun is half done.”

It means that it is not always easy to get started. However, it also means that once you get started, progress will not be that difficult. It took four years and five months for the trilateral meeting to resume but, despite many difficulties, the meeting was finally held.

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The Republic of Korea, China, and Japan are all in different situations. Under such circumstances, it is not easy for the three countries to come together to discuss, agree on, and promote different issues. The three countries have shown their wisdom as they chose the path of coexistence instead of confrontation.

Despite the difficulties, the three leaders agreed to embark on a new journey on a national level. In other words, this trilateral meeting is of great importance just by reviving dialogues that were difficult to realize in the past.

So what have the three countries achieved at the meetings? To begin with, the bilateral meeting between the leaders of the ROK and China has generated fruitful results.

In the field of economics and trade, the two countries discussed the resumption of free trade agreement negotiations, investment cooperation committee, and enhancing cooperation in the global supply chain. The two countries also agreed to promote exchanges in culture and tourism.

More importantly, the two countries agreed to establish the ROK-China diplomatic and security dialogue, which is a “2+2” dialogue mechanism between the foreign ministries and defense ministries of both countries.

Together with the previously established “Track 1.5” dialogue and exchange mechanism for officials and nongovernmental experts and the ROK-China vice foreign ministers’ strategic dialogue, this agreement will allow the two countries to form direct dialogue and consultation in the fields of foreign affairs and security. As such, the bilateral meeting between the ROK and China produced quite a few results.

As for the meeting between the leaders of the ROK and Japan, it is easy to evaluate the result by looking at the responses in the two societies after the meeting.

In the ROK, some analysts said the meeting indicated continued strengthening of the cooperation among the ROK, Japan, and the United States, promoted diplomatic and security cooperation in Northeast Asia, as well as cooperation in economics, trade, and people-to-people exchanges.

But they also pointed out that in general the ROK was merely led by the nose by Japan. There was a lot of disappointment and dissatisfaction with the ROK government as people criticized its “submissive diplomacy”.

For example, ROK tech giant Naver is facing pressure from the Japanese government to sell its shares in Line Yahoo, the operator of the popular Line messenger app in Japan. This has escalated to become one of the most heated issues between the ROK and Japan.

The majority of people in the ROK, who were expecting a strong response from their government during the meeting, were disappointed that it instead “caved in” without even raising the issue with the Japanese side.

The ROK failed to even mention issues of core interest, such as the Dokdo islets or wartime forced labor. Eventually, the meeting between the ROK and Japan ended without anything new besides an agreement to increase cooperation in areas already underway.

In contrast, Chinese Premier Li Qiang boldly brought up issues with Japan. These included the release of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and the Taiwan question, which is a matter of China’s sovereignty.

Finally, regarding the China-Japan meeting, in the ROK there is a general consensus that the meeting was rather cold and tense with no meaningful or tangible outcomes.

Of course, there were some achievements, such as cooperation in the field of economics and trade or joint responses to global issues like climate change.

But in general, many people see it as a meeting that only re-emphasized the two countries’ different positions on issues such as sovereignty, territory, and the nuclear-contaminated wastewater.

In conclusion, the bilateral and trilateral meetings between the ROK, China, and Japan have achieved success to varying degrees, and one should not be too critical of the meeting if the result is less fruitful than hoped for.

As mentioned, this is because it is already a major achievement to make this difficult new start of trilateral dialogue happen. Many people already considered the meeting as a successful start before it was even held.

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Considering the importance of the three countries in East Asia, the various trilateral and bilateral agreements that were discussed can be considered an important foundation for preventing and easing regional tension, as well as for promoting coexistence and mutual benefit based on stability and cooperation.

Now the other half of success depends on how the three countries will talk and cooperate with each other through various dialogues and platforms that have been established.

The path ahead has been laid out through the meeting and all eyes are on whether it will be a smooth highway or a bumpy road. I look forward to the wisdom of the three countries.

The author is head of the Institute of East Asian Studies of Korea and president of the Korea-China Global Association. 

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.