S. Korea, China plan bilateral summit at APEC: source

BEIJING, Sept. 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and China will hold a bilateral summit of their leaders on the sidelines of November's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Beijing but are likely to skip a trilateral summit with Japan, a Seoul diplomatic source said Monday. Among those attending the upcoming 21-member APEC gathering in Beijing on Nov. 10-11 are South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Barack Obama. North Korea's nuclear weapons program and ongoing free trade talks between Seoul and Beijing are expected to top the agenda of the planned bilateral meeting between Park and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the APEC summit, the source said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "Working-level preparations have been underway for a bilateral summit between President Park and President Xi during the APEC meeting," said the source who was briefed by Chinese officials. The planned summit between Park and Xi is a follow-up to their meeting in early July, when Xi paid a two-day state visit to South Korea and broke a long-standing tradition by Chinese heads of state visiting North Korea before Seoul. China's vice foreign minister, Zhang Yesui, will visit South Korea sometime in October to discuss more details about the planned summit, the source said. Leaders of South Korea, China and Japan had held a trilateral summit every year since 2008, but such summit has been moribund since 2012. Amid bitter disputes over history and maritime territories with South Korea and China, Japan's Abe has failed to hold a bilateral summit with Park or Xi since taking office in December 2012. Asked about the possibility of holding a trilateral summit among Park, Xi and Abe during the APEC gathering, the source said, "It's not an atmosphere where the three nations could discuss specifics about the issue." "The Chinese side has even played down the possibility of a bilateral summit with Japan on the sidelines of the APEC meeting," the source said. kdh@yna.co.kr (END)