South Korean Environment Minister Han Wha-jin attends a virtual meeting with China's Ecology and Environment Minister Huang Runqiu and Japan's State Minister of the Environment Miki Yamada to discuss environmental issues in Seoul, Dec. 1. Courtesy of Ministry of Environment

Top environmental officials of South Korea, China and Japan held a virtual trilateral meeting Thursday over joint efforts to reduce fine dust air pollution and work toward carbon neutrality, Seoul officials said.

South Korea's Environment Minister Han Wha-jin, China's Ecology and Environment Minister Huang Runqiu and Japan's State Minister of the Environment Miki Yamada attended the 23rd Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting.

Han asked for Beijing and Tokyo to attend the 2nd U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Korea Global Adaptation Week slated to take place in Incheon, west of Seoul, in August next year. The gathering is one of the biggest international adaptation events.

The Chinese side requested cooperation in efforts to adopt the Post-2020 global biodiversity framework designed to guide related actions through 2030 when a key U.N. biodiversity conference opens in Canada on Dec. 7. China is the president of the conference, according to the ministry.

At the meeting, the three countries signed a joint agreement highlighting their will for cooperation on environmental issues. (Yonhap)