Resumption of trilateral meeting conducive to solving Korean Peninsula issue

BEIJING - The sixth China-Japan-South Korea leaders' meeting started in the South Korean capital of Seoul on Sunday, resuming the trilateral cooperation mechanism after a three-and-a-half-year suspension.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye are expected to exchange views on trilateral cooperation and address issues of regional interest.

The resumption of summit meetings between leaders of China, South Korea and Japan is a sign of detente of relations between Japan and its two Asian neighbors.

This is conducive to reactivating the Six-Party Talks mechanism, and thus settling the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, as the three countries are important role players among the six parties, which also involves the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Russia and the United States.

The mechanism, launched in 2003 with the aim of negotiating a viable solution to the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, has remained on hold since 2008 when the DPRK unilaterally withdrew from the negotiation process.

Common efforts have led to the resumption of the trilateral cooperation mechanism, which is in the common interests of the three countries and the region.

For starters, the mutual trust established by the best ever China-South Korea relations and the two countries' common political willingness to peacefully solve the DPRK nuclear issue will lay a solid foundation for a resumption of the Six-Party Talks.

Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday met with Park, exchanging views on the Korean Peninsula situation, which added to the several occasions in recent years when leaders of the two countries held bilateral meetings.

China always sticks to realizing denuclearization of the peninsula, maintaining peace and stability, and resolving the issue through dialogue and consultation, Chinese President Xi Jinping expounded China's stance when Park visited Beijing in September.