South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed Sunday to work toward realizing a trilateral summit with China, the presidential office said.

The two held talks on the margins of a Group of 20 summit in New Delhi, expressing their pleasure at meeting a total of six times since March, when Yoon traveled to Tokyo to mend bilateral relations badly frayed over historical disputes.

“The president said the two countries should continue active meetings in the second half of the year and smoothly implement the process to hold a South Korea-Japan-China summit,” the presidential office said in a press release. “Prime Minister Kishida said he would actively respond.”

As the current chair of the trilateral summit, South Korea has been pushing to host the next meeting before the end of the year.

The summit has not been held since 2019 due to historical disputes between Seoul and Tokyo, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yoon and Kishida discussed recent developments in South Korea-Japan relations, and agreed to jointly and responsibly cooperate and contribute, regarding global issues.

Source: Yonhap News Agency