S. Korea respects Japan's position on three-way summit location

SEOUL, May 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will respect host Japan's decision on where to hold a three-way summit with China, an official said Monday, after Beijing balked at Tokyo's offer to hold an opening ceremony of the summit in the region rocked by a nuclear accident.
"Wherever the Korea-Japan-China summit will be held, we will respect the position of host Japan," the official said on condition of anonymity.
Japan had proposed earlier that the opening ceremony of the May 21-22 summit be held in Fukushima prefecture, which was rattled by a nuclear power plant accident triggered by March's earthquake and tsunami, while the main talks will be held in Tokyo as originally scheduled.
But China said it is opposed to holding an official event in Fukushima. On Monday, Beijing said Premier Wen Jiabao will pay a separate visit to the prefecture individually during his stay in Japan.
Attending the summit will be South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Chinese Premier Wen and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan. The three neighboring nations have held such a summit annually to increase cooperation and discuss regional issues.
jschang@yna.co.kr