The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo today against the backdrop of historic diplomatic moves by North Korea and a push for the isolated country to give up its nuclear weapons.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and South Korean President Moon Jae-in held talks in the first three-way summit in two-and-a-half years.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the meeting is an opportunity to advance North Korea's abandonment of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner, in line with UN resolutions.

He said Japan, China and South Korea must work with the international community to demand concrete action by North Korea.

South Korean President Moon said the three nations would continue cooperation as South-North relations is very important for peace and prosperity of Northeast Asia.

The leaders also discussed cooperation on economic issues. Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang, said, all the three countries are beneficiaries of free trade and even though various issues have emerged, these should not stand in the way.