Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says his country will host a trilateral summit meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and South Korean President Moon Jae In next week to exchange views on North Korea.
The three leaders are scheduled to hold talks on May 9, Abe announced at a news conference in Amman, Jordan on Tuesday during his trip to the region.
The Tokyo gathering will come about two weeks after inter-Korean talks between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and ahead of a planned summit meeting between Kim and US President Donald Trump.
Last week, the Korean leaders agreed to pursue a set of historic goals, including a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and an official end to the Korean War.
The Japanese premier, who has been somewhat left out of the loop on the flurry of diplomatic activity over North Korea, said: "We must lead the momentum to having North Korea take concrete steps toward complete denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula."
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, shakes hands with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Source: Korea Summit Press Pool via AP
Abe also pledged to strengthen bilateral relations with China. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of a friendship treaty between the two countries.
Li is scheduled to visit Japan between May 8 and 11 as an official guest, Abe added.
Japan's relations with China and South Korea have soured under the hawkish Abe, over differing views of Japanese wartime atrocities and territorial spats.
