The foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and China on Saturday agreed that a summit of their leaders, on hold for nearly three years because of tensions over history and territory, should be held soon to mend the countries' frayed ties.
The ministers were meeting, also for the first time in three years, in a bid to restore what had been a regular forum to discuss cooperation until it collapsed over what Seoul and Beijing saw as Japan's reluctance to face up to its wartime past.
"Based on the accomplishments achieved through this meeting, the three ministers decided to continue their efforts to hold the trilateral summit at the earliest convenient time for the three countries," a joint statement after the meeting said.