The leaders of Japan, China and South Korea reiterated their cooperation toward achieving denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula at a joint press conference after their summit meeting in Chengdu, China, on Tuesday morning.

 Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and South Korean President Moon Jae-in attended the first such trilateral meeting since May 2018, when the three leaders met in Tokyo.

 Abe was critical of Pyongyang for its repeated ballistic missile launches at the meeting.

 “[North Korea] not only violates the U.N. Security Council resolutions but also poses a serious threat to regional security,” he said.

 Abe pointed out the importance of providing “as much support as possible to U.S.-North Korea negotiations aimed at Pyongyang’s complete denuclearization.”

 The three leaders confirmed that they took a “common position” concerning Abe’s assertion.

 At the press conference, Moon said they would jointly make efforts to substantially promote denuclearization and peace through the early realization of U.S.-North Korea dialogues. Li said China hoped to resolve issues on the Korean Peninsula through political measures in cooperation with the international community.

 Abe asked the Chinese and South Korean leaders for their support and cooperation toward a swift resolution of the issue of the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korea. Li and Moon expressed understanding of Japan’s position.

 During the summit meeting, the leaders discussed the promotion of free trade and agreed to aim for an early conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership with the participation of the three countries, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations members and others. They also confirmed that they would facilitate negotiations to realize the conclusion of a trilateral free trade agreement.

 At the joint press conference, Li emphasized the importance of maintaining free trade, with Washington’s “America First” policy in mind.

 The nations held their first trilateral summit in 1999. Each country has taken turns hosting the meeting annually since 2008.

 Ahead of the summit, Abe spoke at a business conference in the city on the day. Citing the “Records of Three Kingdoms” that features a three-way battle for hegemony, he said: “We are not three leaders who fight with each other. We want to cooperate with each other to build a ‘new era for our three nations.’”

 Amid frigid Japan-South Korea relations over the issue of former requisitioned workers from the peninsula, Abe said that exchanges of human resources should be actively promoted between the two nations.