"We reiterate that promoting the institutionalization of trilateral cooperation strengthens the respective bilateral relations and contributes to peace, stability, and prosperity in the Northeast Asian region, and helps advance a world where countries, big or small, can universally benefit," the document read, issued after the meeting between South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese and Chinese Premiers Fumio Kishida and Li Qiang, respectively.

The three countries held their first annual summits between 2008 and 2012, but differences between Seoul and Tokyo over the legacy of Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula led to the gatherings being convened only intermittently.

Since Yoon took office in 2022, he and Kishida have sought to address those differences, alongside strengthening the two countries' military cooperation with their traditional ally, the United States.

At the same time, China's lack of transparency over the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with the intensifying rivalry between Beijing and Washington, has in recent years widened the gap between the three neighbors, who had not held such a summit since 2019.

But the three countries stressed Thursday that this ninth trilateral summit in Seoul "holds important significance for revitalizing trilateral cooperation," according to the statement, which added that "discussions will be held to accelerate negotiations for a trilateral free trade agreement (FTA)," as Kishida had earlier told a press conference.

The three neighbors agreed to establish cooperative projects in six key areas: people-to-people exchanges, sustainable development, economic and trade cooperation, public health and aging society, science and technology, and disaster relief and safety.

"We will strive to increase the number of people-to-people exchanges among the three countries to 40 million by 2030, by promoting exchanges in areas such as culture, tourism, and education," the document explained.

The two areas that appeared to produce the most tangible results in terms of cooperation following Thursday's summit were intellectual property and "future pandemics," with two separate memorandums of understanding signed in those respective fields.

No mention was made of the thorny issue of Taiwan and China's increasing pressure on the island, and only a single sentence was dedicated to the North Korea issue, which is of growing concern to Seoul and Tokyo, but has in recent times elicited only lukewarm statements from Beijing, which has not supported new UN sanctions on Pyongyang for years.

Read Also: South Korea, China and Japan resume meeting to relaunch cooperation (Portuguese version)