TCS

The Chosun Ilbo wrote an article dated October 11, 2012, titled “The Trilateral Cooperation among the ROK, China, and Japan could be more influential than the EU”. In the article, we recognized several points beyond the facts, thus would like to further elaboration as below.

1. “Departments of Foreign Affairs of the three countries prepared drafts of keynote speeches, and negotiated dignitaries directly.” “Actually, (the forum will be) the place where the three governments exchange their views”.

- The Forum is the venue where experts exchange their ideas freely as individual capacity, not a governmental meeting or a place of exchange of governmental views. Keynote speakers decided their participation, sharing the concept of this international forum. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan did not draft key note speech or negotiated dignitary directly.

2, “In the last Summit meeting held in May 2012, the Secretary-General SHIN sat beside the three leaders, and reported the cooperative activities.”

-  Secretary-General reported the progress of the trilateral cooperation at the occasion of the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, not in the Summit Meeting. 

3. “The Ministerial Meetings of the three countries are organized by the TCS”

-   The expression could make the misunderstanding on the role of the TCS. The fact is that the TCS provides supports in some of the Ministerial meetings as the Secretariat.