Korea, China and Japan to meet at ASEAN summit

The ASEAN summit slated to take place in Singapore at the end of November will provide an occasion for the leaders of three East Asian countries -- President Kim Dae-Jung of Korea, Prime Minister Zu Rongji of China and Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori of Japan -- to hold a trilateral meeting.

Mori and Zu agreed to stage the three-nation summit when they met at the Japanese premier's official residence in Tokyo Oct. 13. The leaders also pledged to exert their continued efforts for the development of the Northeast Asian region. The trilateral summit talks were held for the first time when the three countries met last year on a similar occasion in Manila during the ASEAN conference. At that time, Japan was represented by then Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi.