Japan, China, S. Korea news agencies to jointly offer summit news

Leading Japanese, Chinese and South Korean news agencies said Thursday they will for the first time jointly provide news reports, transcripts, official documents and other information in English, Chinese and Korean for the meeting of the three nations' leaders to be held in Tokyo on May 21-22.

Aiming to enhance global outreach and recognition of issues concerning the three countries, Kyodo News, Xinhua News Agency and Yonhap News Agency will run a joint portal website, dubbed Press Pool Information Service, for other media organizations to use to get necessary information as well as news photos and videos.

It will be the first time for news agencies of the three countries to team up on such a press service for the trilateral summit, which will be the fourth of its kind. The inaugural meeting was hosted by Japan in Fukuoka Prefecture in 2008 and the three countries have since taken turns as host.

Operating the website in English, Chinese and Korean, the three agencies will provide news alerts and reports on the summit as well as bilateral talks on the sidelines; unofficial rush transcripts of joint press conferences, official comments by the leaders and press briefings; news photos and videos; information and news reports on side events; and schedules. Official transcripts and documents to be released by the governments of the three countries will also be made available.

The summit will be attended by Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak.

The leaders are expected to deepen cooperation on nuclear power safety and disaster prevention in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated large areas in northeastern Japan and triggered the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

==Kyodo