Xi Jinping to gather with Fumio Kishida and Yoon Suk Yeol ‘in near future’ against backdrop of tensions over US alliance and North Korea’s hostility

The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea will meet, possibly next year, in the latest attempt to ease regional tensions heightened by North Korea’s weapons programme and a more visible US military presence.

During a meeting in the South Korean port city of Busan on Sunday, the three Asian countries’ foreign ministers agreed to step up cooperation in key areas, including security, and to lay the groundwork for what would be the first leaders’ summit in four years.