Full text of joint summit statement of South Korea, Japan, China

FUKUOKA, Japan, Dec. 13 (Yonhap) -- The following is the full text of a joint
statement issued by South Korea, Japan and China after their tripartite summit in
Fukuoka, Japan, Saturday.

Joint Statement for Tripartite Partnership

We, the heads of Government/State of the Republic of Korea, the People's Republic
of China and Japan met in Fukuoka, Japan on 13 December 2008.
We gathered here to help lay a solid foundation in promoting our tripartite
cooperation in the years to come, building upon progress to date.
Our economies are dynamic, resilient and closely interlinked. Our cultural and
people-to-people ties are strong. We share common challenges as well as
opportunities. We uphold visions and responsibilities for creating a peaceful,
prosperous and sustainable future for the region and international community, and
our tripartite cooperation contributes to achieving that goal.
We are content with the achievements made so far in the tripartite cooperation in
enhancing mutual political trust, increasing trade and economic contact,
expanding social and cultural exchange and strengthening financial cooperation.
We have committed ourselves to further promote our trilateral cooperation
building on these achievements.
We have reached common recognition that the tripartite cooperation will be guided
under the principle of openness, transparency, mutual trust, common interest and
respect for our diverse cultures, and that it will contribute to advancing wider
regional cooperation frameworks such as ASEAN+3, EAS, ARF and APEC in a
complementary and mutually reinforcing manner. At the same time, we shared the
common understanding that our tripartite cooperation is crucial to address the
serious challenges in the global economy and the financial markets. We are
determined to pursue comprehensive cooperation including political, economic,
social and cultural fields within both governmental and non-governmental
frameworks in the future-oriented manner.
We are convinced that our Summit Meeting will pave the way for a new era of
tripartite partnership which will lead to the peace and sustainable development
in the region.
Recognizing the importance of this first-ever Trilateral Summit Meeting held
independently of other occasions, we decided to hold the Summit in the three
countries on a regular basis. We look forward to meeting again in China next
year.

Lee Myung-bak
President of the Republic of Korea
Wen Jiabao
Premier of the People's Republic of China
Taro Aso
Prime Minister of Japan
(END)