South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul met with his Japanese and Chinese counterparts in Tokyo on Saturday for the 11th trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting, where the three sides pledged to deepen economic and political cooperation despite lingering tensions over North Korea and maritime issues. The ministers agreed to accelerate negotiations on a trilateral free trade agreement (FTA), expand collaboration with ASEAN, strengthen regional supply chain resilience and increase people-to-people exchanges.

On the sidelines, Cho held separate bilateral meetings with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. In the South Korea-China meeting, Cho and Wang agreed