By Le Tian (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-11-21 06:59

SINGAPORE: The leaders of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) Tuesday agreed during a trilateral meeting in this city-state to promote the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L), South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun (C) and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda hold hands together before their trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 13th Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Singapore November 20, 2007. [Agencies]

Premier Wen Jiabao, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and ROK President Roh Moo-hyun also agreed to hold more frequent high-level dialogues and work more closely in areas such as trade, climate change, energy conservation, environmental protection and non-traditional security threats. They also pledged to coordinate on regional and international affairs.

The three leaders were meeting for the eighth time on the sidelines of the annual ASEAN and East Asia summits, which are taking place in Singapore this week.

The three nations issued a progress report listing various trilateral events and cooperative efforts this year, such as ministerial and high-level meetings, participation in the Six-Party Talks on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula as well as a wide range of economic cooperation and cultural exchanges.

Looking to promote further cooperation on the Korean nuclear issue and other regional and international affairs, the leaders agreed to hold trilateral foreign ministerial and foreign vice-ministerial talks in Japan by the end of March.

The leaders agreed that the trilateral summit, which has taken place on the sidelines of annual events involving the 10-member ASEAN since 1999, will eventually be held separately, in one of the three countries, to allow ample time for discussion.

Speaking at the meeting, Wen said China has been supporting both sides of the Korean Peninsula to improve their relations through dialogue and hopes the ROK and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) can avail of the opportunities raised at the inter-Korean Summit held last month to speed up the reconciliation process.

China, Japan and the ROK should play a positive role in the denuclearization of the peninsula and continue to promote the implementation of the September 19 joint statement so that the Six-Party Talks and the normalization of relations can proceed, he said.

"China will actively participate in the building process of the peace mechanism for the peninsula to create lasting peace and stability in the region."

Roh briefed the other leaders on the inter-Korean summit, where he met with DPRK leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang last month, saying the ROK will join the other parties to promote talks.

Fukuda said he appreciates the summits' contribution to easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula as well as furthering progress in the DPRK's denuclearization under the six-party framework.

And he expressed hope that China and the ROK will attend to Japan's concern over the abduction issue.

The three leaders also agreed to support integration with ASEAN, actively participate in the ASEAN+3 (China, Japan and ROK), promote the East Asia summit as a strategic forum and jointly enhance regional cooperation.

Japan will take over from South Korea as chair of the meeting next year.