The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Tokyo

East Asian powers Japan, China and South Korea on Saturday vowed cooperation on ending North Korea's nuclear drive and aiding Africa as their foreign ministers held rare joint talks.

The foreign ministers confirmed that leaders of the three countries, whose relations have often been uneasy, would come to Japan in September for a first-of-a-kind three-way summit.

"We agreed to further strengthen cooperation among Japan, China and South Koreat in order to advance the process of denuclearisation" on the Korean Peninsula, Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura told reporters.

They also agreed to launch dialogue on coordinating policy on Africa-with which all three countries have been seeking to step up trade and political ties-and to cooperate on fighting global warming, Komura said.

With killer quakes in China and Japan overshadowing the talks, the ministers also agreed on joining hands in disaster management.

"We agreed to promote cooperation in the field of disaster management in the wake of the great Sichuan earthquake, exploring concrete ways," Komura said.

The May 12 Sichuan quake killed nearly 70,000 people in China. Japan on Saturday was hit by a powerful tremor, which killed four people and injured more than 100.

The three-way talks came a day after a surprise thaw in tense relations between Japan and North Korea. Pyongyang agreed to start a new probe

into an emotive row over its kidnappings of Japanese civilians.

Japan, which has taken the hardest line internationally against North Korea, in turn agreed to ease some sanctions on Pyongyang in a boost for a slow-moving six-nation deal on disarming North Korea.