SEOUL, Oct. 2 ( Yonhap ) - The leaders of South Korea, China and Japan could hold a summit next week as part of a regional forum , said Wednesday the head of a tri-national body , raising hopes that neighbors are able to defuse tensions by historical and territorial issues .
The comments of the head of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS , for its acronym in English) is presented as the three nations have yet to organize their annual trilateral summit , which has been held every year since 2008.
Relations between Japan and its neighbors South Korea and China have been unusually cold in recent times since the conservative administration of Shinzo Abe has renewed its territorial claims and tried to cover up its military aggression and war atrocities before and during World War II World .
"There will be the ASEAN summit at the beginning of next week , and there will be a meeting of the ASEAN Plus Three . This will be the first opportunity for the three leaders meet " with Shigeo Iwatani , the new secretary general of the TCS with headquartered in Seoul, told a news conference. " Maybe there's a chance ( to hold a trilateral summit ) and not to exclude the possibility."
The meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN ) will take place from 9 to 10 October in Brunei , which brings together the 10 member countries and three Northeast Asian countries .
The TCS is a tri-national body set up by the three Northeast Asian countries in September 2011 to promote closer cooperation between neighbors.
Chen Feng, deputy secretary general of China in the TCS , refused to comment on speculation that Beijing is resisting the proposal to hold the trilateral summit meeting , saying " I am currently not able to speak on behalf of the Chinese Government " .
The Chinese official , however , hinted at the possible organization of the summit next week , stressing : "I think the trilateral summit date will be decided by the three parties. As the secretariat , we will prepare for the celebration of the summit and be ready at any time , "said Chen .
