Cooperation secretariat among S. Korea, China, Japan to open in Sept.

SEOUL, July 31 -- A cooperation secretariat among South Korea, China and Japan is set to open in Seoul this September, despite heightened tensions over Japan's latest move to lay claim to South Korean territory, officials said Sunday. The Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat was first proposed by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak during a three-way summit with his Chinese and Japanese counterparts in Beijing in 2009. A formal agreement was signed last December in what became the first-ever treaty sealed among the three governments. The three countries are key trade partners to each other, but their political relations have often frayed over their shared history, including Japan's aggression against the other nations in the early 20th century, as well as over territorial rows. Another diplomatic spat looms as three Japanese lawmakers on Saturday vowed to press ahead with their planned trip to South Korea's Ulleung Island this week, despite Seoul's warnings that their entry will be banned at an airport here and their safety will not be guaranteed. Seoul views the trip as an attempt by the lawmakers to reassert Tokyo's claim to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo, located about 90 kilometers east of Ulleung Island. The secretariat has so far set up an office in central Seoul and is currently recruiting people to secure a total of some 30 staff from the three nations. Shin Bong-kil, South Korea's ambassador for international economic cooperation, will first take the rotating headship as secretary-general. The secretariat will be tasked with studying issues of mutual concern as well as developing new joint projects. "We expect it to deal with not only basic issues but also have a positive influence on resolving territorial disputes in the long run through strengthening trilateral cooperation," said a foreign ministry official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.