South Korea and Japan discuss South China Sea as trilateral summit with China draws to close

As Premier Li Keqiang  was calling for greater cooperation between young Chinese and Korean entrepreneurs on the final day of his trilateral summit to South Korea  the leaders of the host nation and Japan held “constructive” talks about the South China Sea.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe raised the South China Sea issue with President Park Geun-hye during a meeting in Seoul on Monday – the first official bilateral summit between the two for more than three years, said Yasuhisa Kawamura, press secretary of Japan’s foreign affairs ministry.

“The discussion was constructive on the South China Sea [issue],” said Kawamura, without  giving details about what was said by the two leaders.

“Japan’s basic stance on this issue is that …Japan would like to cooperate with the US and South Korea .. in order to preserve an open, liberal, and peaceful ocean,” Kawamura said.

Kawamura added that Japan supported the US Navy’s sail-by in the disputed waters last week because the move was “in accordance with international law” and the current condition of the South China Sea was a common concern of the international society.

His remarks came as Admiral Harry Harris, the commander of US forces in the Pacific, was due to meet Chinese defence officials in Beijing this week during an official visit.

Harris is one of the senior officers in charge of the warship USS Lassen, which sparked a rebuke from Beijing after sailing within 12-nautical-miles (22km) of two artificial islands, Mischief and Subi reefs, built by China in the disputed Spratly Islands on October 27.