On September 27, 2011, the China-Japan-ROK Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat was officially inaugurated in Seoul, South Korea. South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Zhang Xinsen and Japanese Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Masatoshi Muto attended the inauguration ceremony. The Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat's Secretary General Shin Bong-kil and Deputy Secretary Generals Rui Matsukawa and Mao Ning were also present.

The Secretariat was established according to the decision of the second China-Japan-South Korea Leaders' Meeting in October 2009 and the agreement signed by the three governments in December 2010. Headquartered in Seoul, it aims at supporting the trilateral pragmatic cooperation and friendly exchanges.

The Secretariat is the first official international organization among the three countries. Its founding is a major result of the trilateral cooperation and an important step of building the cooperation mechanism. It will help step up the trilateral cooperation and further deepen the future-oriented comprehensive partnership.