The agriculture ministers of South Korea, China and Japan have held a trilateral meeting, the first such gathering in seven years, to discuss a range of issues including food security, sustainable farming and animal disease responses.

South Korea’s agriculture ministry said in a statement that Minister Song Mi-ryung met with her counterparts, Han Jun of China and Shinjiro Koizumi of Japan, on Monday in Incheon, just outside Seoul.

Their discussions covered a variety of topics including food security, sustainable farming, responses to animal diseases, the revitalization of rural areas, cooperation on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems and international cooperation.

The ministers agreed on the importance of cooperation and sharing information to better respond to global challenges in the agriculture sector, such as climate change, and to combat the spread of infectious animal diseases and supply chain instability.

The talks come on the heels of the 2025 APEC Food Security Ministerial Meeting, held over the weekend in Incheon.