ABSTRACT
The institutional building process began in the context of East Asia in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. The first summit meeting was held among the leaders of Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)+3 countries (China, Japan and Korea) in Kuala Lumpur in December 1997. The "Joint Declaration on the Promotion of Tripartite Cooperation among the People's Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea" was adopted in Bali on 7 October 2003. In addition to the Trilateral Summit Meetings, various Ministerial-level meetings took place among the three countries. The first official negotiations on a China, Japan and Korea (CJK) Free trade agreement (FTA) were held in Seoul from 26 –28 March 2013 following a preparatory meeting held in Tokyo the previous month. By choosing a trilateral FTA (over bilateral FTAs), the three countries could also demonstrate their willingness to assume leadership in improving relations in Northeast Asia.
