Leaders agree to boost tripartite partnership

The first-ever tripartite summit between South Korea, China and Japan, which took place on Saturday in Fukuoka, Japan was of symbolic significance.

But the meeting of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso should not be underestimated. Leaders of the three neighboring Asian countries, while they have met annually on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus Three Summit since 1999, had never met separately at multilateral international forums.

What brought the three countries - whose history and territorial disputes remain a formidable barrier to closer ties - was the urgency of the global financial and economic crisis. Saturday's three-nation summit was a result of Lee's call for a meeting of the leaders of South Korea, Japan and China made in October.