The UK will host a meeting of foreign and development ministers from the Group of Seven(G7) nations next month in the city of Liverpool. 

Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office announced on Monday that the meeting will take place from December 10 to 12, with South Korea, Australia, India and South Africa taking part again as guest nations as they had in an earlier gathering held in London in May. 

Britain, which currently holds the G7 presidency, also invited members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) for the first time to the upcoming gathering.

Some observers believe Britain invited countries from Asia-Pacific, including South Korea, in an attempt to apply further pressure on China. 

Meanwhile, attention is being drawn to whether the foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan will meet on the sidelines of the gathering for the first time since Fumio Kishida became Japan’s prime minister. 

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong had sent a congratulatory letter to Japan’s new Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi but has yet to meet him in person.