On August 21, 2019, the 9th Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held in Beijing, China. Foreign ministers of the three countries, including State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, and Foreign Minister Kono Taro, spoke with one voice on the significance of trilateral cooperation. TCS Secretary-General Lee Jong-heon also attended the meeting to report on the progress of trilateral cooperation, and provided suggestions for the development of trilateral cooperation.
The foreign ministers of the three countries stressed that the trilateral cooperation should not be affected by bilateral relations and that they should continue to pursue constructive and future-oriented cooperation. In particular, the ministers shared the views on the importance of strengthening pragmatic cooperation that can provide practical benefits to the people of the three countries in such areas as environment and health sectors, and people-to-people exchanges. Recognizing that promoting peace and stability in Northeast Asia, including the Korean Peninsula, is a common responsibility among the three countries, the ministers also agreed to continue working together to achieve complete denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Secretary-General Lee Jong-heon expressed appreciation to the three ministers for their unwavering support for the TCS. In light of the high expectations of the people for the trilateral cooperation, SG Lee emphasized the need for further enhancing the capacity of the TCS to achieve more substantial cooperation. Underlining the spirit of understanding and reconciling different perspectives and positions of the three countries, he also proposed to promote the potential inherent in the three countries by strengthening exchanges and communication based on their unique complementarity. The three foreign ministers spoke highly of the achievements of the TCS and the efforts of the 4th Consultative Board led by SG Lee, and assured that they would continue to support the TCS.
The meeting was followed by a launching ceremony of "Beautiful CJK" Picture Book and the Joint Press Conference where the ministers reiterated the significance of strengthening trilateral cooperation in a future-oriented manner.
