S. Korea, China, Japan to hold trade ministers' talks ahead of next week's trilateral summit

TOKYO, Dec. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea, China and Japan will hold a trade ministers' meeting in Beijing over the weekend ahead of their trilateral summit in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu next week, reports said Thursday.

China's Assistant Commerce Minister Li Chenggang told a press conference that the ministers' meeting was set to take place in the Chinese capital on Sunday, according to Japan's Kyodo News.

South Korea's Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yun-mo will meet China's Commerce Minister Zhong Shan and Japan's Economy and Trade Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama for talks over how to accelerate regional free trade negotiations.

It is not known whether Sung and Kajiyama will meet bilaterally amid tensions over Japan's export curbs targeting South Korea.

Seoul views the export restrictions as a political retaliation against South Korea's Supreme Court rulings in 2018 that ordered Japanese firms to provide reparation to South Korean victims of forced labor during 1910-45 colonial rule period.

South Korea and Japan held director-general-level talks to address their trade row in Tokyo on Monday.

President Moon Jae-in, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are set to hold a three-way summit in Chengdu on Dec. 24 to discuss cooperation on a range of issues that likely include peace efforts with North Korea.
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