South Korea, China and Japan will hold working-level talks next week on resuming a trilateral summit, a government official here said Tuesday.

President Park Geun-hye and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed last week to open the three-way meeting "at a convenient time," including in late October or early November.

If held, it would be the first of its kind since 2012, when the annual group summit came to a halt amid historical and territorial spats among the regional powers.

Japan welcomed the Park-Xi deal, saying it anticipates relevant consultations with South Korea and China.

"A deputy director general-level meeting to prepare for the sixth South Korea-China-Japan summit will be held at the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat in Seoul on Sept. 15," the Foreign Ministry's spokesman Noh Kwang-il said at a press briefing.

To be discussed are a schedule for the summit and other issues, he added.

It's South Korea's turn to play host to the proposed event.

South Korea has yet to pick the venue, although Seoul is among the shortlist of candidate cities, according to diplomatic sources.

In 2000, South Korea hosted the summit on the southern resort island of Jeju. (Yonhap)