South Korea, China and Japan will hold deputy foreign-ministerial level talks Sunday in Tokyo, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday.

The 11th trilateral meeting, the first since March 2015, will be attended by Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Kim Hyoung-zhin and his Chinese and Japanese counterparts Liu Zhenmin and Akiba Takeo. 

Focal point of the meeting is thought to be making preparations for a gathering of the three country's foreign ministers.

The meeting comes amid thorny relations among the three neighbors.

China has been protesting the upcoming deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in South Korea to defend against North Korean ballistic missiles. Tokyo and Beijing are clashing over islands in the East China Sea, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. The islands are currently controlled by Japan but claimed by China.

China has criticized the THAAD deployment, saying that it infringes upon its strategic interest in the region.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has said the THAAD deployment is a self-defense measure and is not directed against China, Russia or any other state.

Last week, Japan called in the Chinese ambassador in Tokyo to protest over the increase in Chinese vessels operating in waters off the islands.



By Yoon Min-sik
(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)