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BEIJING: The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea on Saturday opened a rare three-way summit expected to focus on bringing North Korea back to nuclear disarmament talks and building regional trust.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao hosted new Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak at the Great Hall of the People in the heart of Beijing for the meeting, only the second of its kind ever held.
The three shook hands for the cameras before sitting down for the summit, which follows one held in December in Fukuoka, Japan.
In his opening remarks, broadcast on state television, Wen said the talks were important "to improve political mutual trust, promote mutually beneficial cooperation, and push forward stability and development in Asia.
"This year is a key year for us to deal with the international financial crisis and return to economic growth.
"We will strive to achieve a practical and positive result out of this meeting, to send the three nations' cooperation to a new level," he said.
The trio were expected to discuss Wen's trip earlier this week to Pyongyang, during which North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il said his country was ready to return to the six-party nuclear negotiations it abandoned in April.
But Kim set a condition: Pyongyang will only come back to the multilateral forum if it is first granted direct talks with the United States.
China hosts the six-party talks, which also group the two Koreas, Japan, Russia and the United States.
Hatoyama, who took office last month, met with Lee on Friday in preparation for Saturday's talks with Wen.
In Seoul, Lee said he and the Japanese prime minister had agreed a "fundamental change" in North Korea's attitude was needed to resolve the dispute over Pyongyang's nuclear programmes.
They also said it was too soon to ease the pressure on Pyongyang, and added they would continue to implement UN sanctions put in place after the North's second atomic test.
- AFP/so
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