(News Focus) first Northeast Asian summit

(News Focus) Unprecedented tripartite summit excites Korea, China, Japan
By Yoo Cheong-mo
FUKUOKA, Japan, Dec. 13 (Yonhap) -- The unprecedented tripartite summit of South
Korea, Japan and China ended Saturday without any tangible agreements but it is
widely seen as an important step towards boosting regional peace and stability
and overcoming the global economic crisis, diplomats said.
Emerging from bilateral and trilateral talks, South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
unveiled three sets of agreements calling for closer cooperation in overcoming
the worldwide financial crisis, denuclearizing North Korea, widening regional
free trade and promoting personnel and cultural exchanges.
Notably, the three leaders were enormously unequivocal in attaching special,
historical meaning to the tripartite summit itself.
"It was a historic meeting, as leaders of South Korea, Japan and China got
together at one place within the region for the first time," Lee said in a joint
press conference after the summit.
"I found through this summit talks that the three countries share common visions.
All problems can be resolved through dialogue. Closer cooperation among the three
will enhance the development of the entire world, as well as of the region.
Korea's latest currency swap deals with Japan and China also illustrate the
importance of regional cooperation."
Aso was also upbeat about the inaugural tripartite meeting, declaring that the
leaders have agreed to make it an annual event.
"Today's meeting is truly the first South Korea-China-Japan summit. Historically,
it is the first tripartite summit held within the region. The regular summit
meetings of three of the world's major countries will contribute to stability and
prosperity of the world as well as of Asia," he said.
Wen concurred, declaring that the Fukuoka summit has further cemented the three
countries' partnership.
"The decision to regularize the tripartite summit holds a very important meaning.
This shows that the three countries' relations have entered into a wholly new
phase," said the Chinese premier.
The Fukuoka meeting marked the first three-way summit talks held separately from
multilateral international forums. The leaders of the three countries have met
annually on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Plus Three summit since 1999.
They had originally planned to meet in Japan in September, but the plan was
scrapped due to the sudden resignation of then Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo
Fukuda.
The idea of an independent "tripartite summit" was first floated by Lee in early
October, when South Korea began to feel the pinch of the global credit crunch.
On the eve of the Fukuoka summit, South Korea's central bank reached agreements
with its Japanese and Chinese counterparts to expand the ceiling of their
respective foreign currency credit swap lines to $30 billion.
The three leaders welcomed the reinforced currency swap deals and agreed to
accelerate a separate agreement with ASEAN member states to create an US$80
billion joint fund by next June to cushion the region against the global
financial crisis.
South Korea, faced with a weakening won and declining foreign exchange reserves,
has long sought to expand its foreign currency swap lines with the U.S., Japan
and China.
"South Korea has to strengthen its ties with regional superpowers, such as the
U.S., China, Japan and Russia. At the same time, it is also important for Korea
to consolidate its tripartite cooperation with China and Japan," said a South
Korean diplomat accompanying President Lee on his trip here.
"In that sense, the Fukuoka meeting has significant symbolic meaning."
The official said the three leaders' agreement to pursue common follow-up
measures for the agreements reached at the Group of 20 summit held in the U.S.
last month was considered another meaningful accomplishment of the summit.
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)