Kim Tae-hyo, first deputy chief of the presidential National Security Office, speaks during a press briefing at the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

The leaders of South Korea, China and Japan will hold a trilateral summit in Seoul on Monday, the presidential office said Thursday, marking a resumption of the long-stalled meeting between the Asian neighbors.

The summit will bring together President Yoon Suk Yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Chinese Premier Li Qiang. Since the inaugural trilateral summit in 2008, China has been represented by its No. 2 official instead of its president.

Yoon will hold respective bilateral talks with Li and Kishida on Sunday afternoon, followed by a welcoming dinner involving delegations and businesspeople. The trilateral summit will take place on Monday morning, and a joint declaration will be issued after their meeting, according to the presidential office.

"The upcoming summit will serve as a catalyst to fully revive and normalize the cooperation framework between (South) Korea, Japan and China. The meeting will provide an opportunity to explore future-oriented and feasible ways of cooperation that resonate with the people of the three nations," Kim Tae-hyo, first deputy chief of the presidential National Security Office, said during a press briefing.

Kim elaborated that South Korea has proposed six concrete areas of possible cooperation, which are expected to be the main agenda items: people-to-people exchanges, response to climate change, economy and trade, health and aging population, technology and science and disaster response.

"The leaders of the three countries will hold in-depth discussions on cooperative measures in these areas, and the results will be included in a joint declaration," Kim said.

He also emphasized that discussions will extend to regional and international affairs, highlighting the commitment of the three nations to collaborate in addressing global crises and fostering international peace and prosperity.

These statements suggest that the upcoming discussions among the three nations will likely prioritize reaching feasible outcomes in less politically contentious areas rather than delving into regional security issues such as those concerning the Taiwan Strait and North Korea.

On Wednesday, the Chinese government summoned senior South Korean and Japanese diplomats in Beijing to lodge complaints on issues related to Taiwan. This move followed a protest by the Chinese Embassy in Seoul against members of South Korea's ruling People Power Party (PPP), Tuesday, for their participation in the inauguration ceremony of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te held the previous day.

Furthermore, it is unlikely that the joint declaration will include concrete messages against North Korea's nuclear threats.

"While the leaders will engage in free discussions, achieving consensus on issues like North Korea, denuclearization, and inter-Korean relations within a short timeframe would be challenging," a senior presidential official said on condition of anonymity.

Then-President Moon Jae-in, left, attends a press conference with then-Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, center, and then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, following a trilateral summit in Chengdu, China, Dec. 24, 2019. Korea Times file

The last trilateral summit was held in December 2019 in Chengdu, China.

The annual summit has been on hold since then due to the COVID-19 pandemic and strained relations between Seoul and Tokyo, primarily stemming from historical grievances related to Japan's colonial occupation of Korea (1910-45).

The revival of the talks gained momentum following a notable thaw in Seoul-Tokyo relations in March 2023, when the Yoon Suk Yeol administration sought reconciliation by seeking to compensate Korean victims of forced labor through a government-led fund, without demanding contributions from responsible Japanese companies.

Despite discussions between the three nations spanning for several months, agreeing on a specific date had been challenging due to domestic events, including China's major annual political meetings in March and South Korea's general elections in April.

Part of the delay was also attributed to China's reluctance regarding the three-way summit. Beijing has expressed discontent over South Korea's close alignment with the United States, as well as the strengthened security cooperation between Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo.