Japan's Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi will meet his Chinese and South Korean counterparts on Saturday morning in Tokyo. They plan to work more closely on shared challenges and lay the groundwork for a trilateral summit in the near future.



Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul are also scheduled to hold one-on-one talks with Iwaya.



Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru met Wang and Cho on Friday. He said he hopes to build future-oriented ties through dialogue.



The foreign ministers are expected to push ahead with plans for more personnel exchanges and economic cooperation. The agenda will also likely include climate change, and the three countries' aging and shrinking populations.



Iwaya will also host economic talks between relevant ministers from Japan and China. It will be the first meeting of its kind in about six years.



He is expected to stress the importance of economic cooperation including imports of Japanese seafood.