Senior diplomats from South Korea, China and Japan are currently meeting in Seoul... to lay the groundwork for a trilateral foreign ministers' meeting... slated for later this month.
One of the key topics forecast to be on the agenda for the ministers' meeting... is to gauge the possibility of a trilateral summit a little further down the road.
Korea and Japan both see the need for a leaders' summit, despite the numerous historical and territorial disputes among the three countries.
China is said to be less keen and is advising a more cautious approach.
The trilateral foreign ministers' meeting has been stalled since 2012 after Japan claimed sovereignty over the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea... known in China as Diaoyu.
