FUKUOKA — The global economic slump transcended historical and territorial rows in East Asia as Japan, China and South Korea met Saturday for their first trilateral summit and discussed ways to fight the financial meltdown.
But as the three leaders united to face the wild economic front, experts expressed hope that the collaboration leads to deeper mutual understanding and opens new doors of bilateral ties.
"The fact that the Asian neighbors had never met in this form prior to today is odd," Keio University professor Masao Okonogi said. "Although the economic crisis may have played a role, this meeting will hopefully become the first step for all sides to look beyond current issues and into the future."