The foreign ministers of Japan, China and South Korea will hold a one-day meeting Monday in Shanghai with trilateral coordination on addressing North Korea's nuclear ambitions topping the agenda.
They are also expected to discuss climate change, energy efficiency and other matters. Japan's proposal for the creation of an East Asian community akin to the European Union may also be taken up, according to Japanese officials.
"With the vision of an East Asian community for the future, we will steadily move forward step by step" in building "future-oriented" relations with other Asian economies, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Sunday in Tokyo.
"Economic integration (in the region) has developed to a considerable level, and there is already a high degree of interdependence," Okada said on an NHK talk show.
The talks involving Okada, Yang Jiechi of China and Yu Myung Hwan of South Korea come as regional powers are stepping up diplomatic drives to bring North Korea back to the stalled six-party talks on its denuclearization.
Okada is scheduled to meet separately with Yang prior to the trilateral talks.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.