Senior diplomats of South Korea and China held a virtual meeting on Thursday to discuss the possibility of holding an annual trilateral summit with Japan this year despite the COVID-19 pandemic. 

According to Seoul's Foreign Ministry, Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Gunn and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui held the meeting of senior officials.

Launched in 2008, the trilateral summit has occurred annually except for years when diplomatic or other issues raised tensions among the countries. This year, South Korea is the host of the three-way summit. 

In the Thursday meeting, Kim and Luo agreed to closely cooperate and communicate to realize the summit this year. 

The two sides also agreed to enhance bilateral support to further expand cooperation with Japan in diverse areas in the face of changes and challenges from the pandemic.