The heads of three of Asia’s leading nations agreed on Saturday to create a liaison office to help cement their international cooperation.
The new office, based in Seoul and focusing on the interests of South Korea, China and Japan, should “strengthen, institutionalize and facilitate cooperation among the three nations.” The agreement was made during a three—way summit by South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.
The trio also agreed upon a document, dubbed Vision 2020, laying out principles and agreements for work between the three countries.
The summit is to end on Sunday with discussions on regional defence, including relations between North and South Korea after the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, which has been blamed on North Korea. North Korea’s nuclear programme will also be discussed.
Leaders of the three countries have met regularly since 1999.
