We begin with the latest efforts at East Asian diplomacy.
Senior diplomats from South Korea, China and Japan met in Seoul on Wednesday... to lay the groundwork for a trilateral foreign ministers' meeting... slated for later this month.
It will be the first meeting of the top diplomats in three years and some are hopeful that a trilateral summit could be around the corner.
Hwang Sung-hee reports.
Tangled in historical and territorial disputes, senior officials from Korea, China and Japan met in Seoul on Wednesday in an effort to revive cooperation.
Their second meeting in six months has added importance, since it comes ahead of the first trilateral foreign ministers' meeting since 2012.


"We have come to agree to host the Foreign Ministers' Meeting this month, and convened here under the clear purpose of preparing for the meeting."

Korea, as the current rotating chair, has been pushing for a gathering of the top diplomats since late last year.
The three-way talks had been stalled mainly due to the territorial row between Japan and China over the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, known in China as Diaoyu.
Despite the challenges, Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama expressed hope for the ministerial meeting to lead to a summit.

"...to prepare for the upcoming foreign ministerial trilateral to be held sometime in the latter half of this month and hopefully to be followed up further by the highest level of us three."

Taking a more cautious stance, the Chinese chief delegate refrained from mentioning such possibility but acknowledged the importance of the upcoming meeting.

"This progress had not come easily and should be cherished."

But there's little hope that the ministerial meeting will actually break the ice between the three neighbors.
An official at Seoul's foreign ministry said the top diplomats will strictly be discussing their trilateral cooperation -- leaving out the more sensitive historical and territorial issues.
Hwang Sung-hee, Ar