Japanese media has reported that diplomatic authorities in South Korea, China and Japan are coordinating a possible trilateral summit amid rising tensions between Beijing and Tokyo over Japan's Fukushima wastewater release.

The Mainichi Shimbun daily, citing multiple diplomatic sources, said Wednesday that coordination is under way to hold a senior working-level meeting of foreign ministry officials from the three sides in Seoul in late September.

Such a meeting is expected to be led by deputy minister-level officials, with Japan’s deputy foreign minister Takehiro Funakoshi likely to attend.

The Mainichi said that during the Seoul meeting, participants are expected to discuss the arrangement of a three-way summit but difficulties may emerge due to China's opposition to the water discharge.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said that a meeting of the leaders of the three countries to discuss various issues including the direction and method of their cooperation would be significant.

The official added that nothing is yet decided on any concrete process or timetable related to trilateral cooperation, including a summit, and working-level reviews are ongoing.

A South Korean foreign ministry official said on Tuesday that the three countries earlier agreed on the need to swiftly resume a consultation channel and that communication is in progress to that end, with the goal to realize a three-way summit by the year’s end.

The three Northeast Asian neighbors have held eight trilateral summits since 2008, with the last one held in late 2019.