The participants in the trilateral summit discussed ways to promote cooperation in six specific areas: economy and trade, sustainable development (including the response to climate change), healthcare, science and technology, disaster management and security, and exchange programs.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the trilateral summit, Yoon Seok-yeol said: “I hope that our three countries, who are working together as members of the UN Security Council this year, will join forces to contribute to peace and prosperity in the international community by gathering wisdom and strength in the face of a global complex crisis and geopolitical conflicts… I believe that the many challenges we face today at the regional and global levels can also be transformed into new opportunities to promote communication between the three countries and expand the horizons of cooperation.”

Summary of the Joint Declaration

In the “ceremonial part” of the summit the three countries noted that “the previous eight Trilateral Summits held since 2008 and the establishment of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat in 2011 have laid a solid foundation for institutionalizing trilateral cooperation.” They recognized the importance of the current summit, pointing out that “the Republic of Korea, Japan and the People’s Republic of China are neighboring countries sharing everlasting history and infinite future with significant potentials for cooperation across multiple domains.”

Problematic topics were carefully avoided. In paragraph 3, the parties reaffirmed their “commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and to an international order based on the rule of law and international law” and emphasized “the importance for states to abide by their commitments under the international law and agreements among states.” Yoon’s favorite wording, “rules-based order,” was not used in the Joint Declaration.

Although security issues were discussed at the summit, the Joint Declaration referred to geopolitical tensions in general terms, without explicitly mentioning North Korea or Taiwan. “We reaffirmed that maintaining peace, stability and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia serves our common interest and is our common responsibility.”

Then there was the VERY ambiguous phrase: “We reiterated positions on regional peace and stability, denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the abductions issue, respectively. We agree to continue to make positive efforts for the political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue.”

South Korean media attempted to present this as a consensus on the need for the North’s nuclear disarmament and on the “abductee issue,” attributing to all three leaders the phrase “maintaining peace, stability and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula serves their common interest and is their responsibility, amid continued provocations from North Korea that have undermined regional peace in Northeast Asia.”

The parties agreed on three directions for the development of trilateral cooperation.

Firstly, to institutionalize the process by continuing to........

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