Commentary: Resumption of China-Japan-South Korea summit conducive to solving Korean Peninsula issue

The sixth China-Japan-South Korea leaders' meeting started in the South Korean capital of Seoul on Sunday, resuming the trilateral cooperation mechanism after a three-and-a-half-year suspension.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye are expected to exchange views on trilateral cooperation and address issues of regional interest.

The resumption of summit meetings between leaders of China, South Korea and Japan is a sign of detente of relations between Japan and its two Asian neighbors.

This is conducive to reactivating the Six-Party Talks mechanism, and thus settling the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, as the three countries are important role players among the six parties, which also involves the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Russia and the United States.

The mechanism, launched in 2003 with the aim of negotiating a viable solution to the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, has remained on hold since 2008 when the DPRK unilaterally withdrew from the negotiation process.

Common efforts have led to the resumption of the trilateral cooperation mechanism, which is in the common interests of the three countries and the region.

For starters, the mutual trust established by the best ever China-South Korea relations and the two countries' common political willingness to peacefully solve the DPRK nuclear issue will lay a solid foundation for a resumption of the Six-Party Talks.

Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday met with Park, exchanging views on the Korean Peninsula situation, which added to the several occasions in recent years when leaders of the two countries held bilateral meetings.

China always sticks to realizing denuclearization of the peninsula, maintaining peace and stability, and resolving the issue through dialogue and consultation, Chinese President Xi Jinping expounded China's stance when Park visited Beijing in September.

All parties should adhere to the goal of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula and strive for an early resumption and positive progress of the Six-Party Talks, he said.

Park, for her part, expressed Seoul's willingness to enhance coordination and cooperation with China in order to realize denuclearization in the peninsula and safeguard peace and stability in Northeast Asia.

But whether the trilateral summit meeting will yield fruits depends on Japan's attitude, as both China and South Korea will not compromise their stances on fundamental issues, such as historical ones, for trilateral cooperation.

"If the history question is handled properly, then relations between the three countries can progress. If not, then they will certainly stall," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a seminar ahead of the meeting, urging Japan to sincerely reflect upon its past mistakes and make "a clean break from its disgraceful history so that it can work with China and South Korea to get trilateral cooperation back on track."

Of course, one summit meeting can not solve all issues at one stroke, but it can at least create opportunities for direct contact and communication between the three countries on regional issues.

The parties concerned need to work hard to remove the stumbling block of mutual mistrust and follow the right way forward -- the Six-Party Talks, which has been the only dialogue mechanism acceptable to all the parties. Endi