The Governments of the People's Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (hereinafter jointly referred to as the "Parties"),
Desiring to establish a secretariat for the efficient promotion and management of trilateral cooperation among the Parties and to enhance existing dialogue mechanisms and contribute to the further promotion of their cooperative relations as decided at the Third Trilateral Summit held on May 30, 2010, in Jeju island, the Republic of Korea,
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1
1. The Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (hereinafter referred to as the "Secretariat") is hereby established.
2. The Secretariat shall be located in the Republic of Korea (hereinafter referred to as the "host country").
Article 2
The objective of the Secretariat is to contribute to the further promotion of cooperative relations among the three countries by providing support for the operation and management of the trilateral consultative mechanisms among the Parties and by facilitating the exploration and implementation of cooperative projects.
Article 3
1. In order to achieve the objective referred to in Article 2, the Secretariat shall carry out the following functions and activities:
(a) provide administrative and technical support for the operation and management of such trilateral consultative mechanisms among the Parties (hereinafter referred to as the "consultative mechanisms") as the Trilateral Summit Meeting, the Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the Three-Party Committee and other ministerial meetings, and the Trilateral Senior Foreign Affairs Officials' Consultation and send, if necessary, its representatives to attend major consultative mechanisms;
(b) communicate and coordinate with the Parties, and if necessary, with other international organizations, particularly with other East Asian cooperation mechanisms;
(c) explore and identify potential cooperative projects among the Parties, and report those projects to the relevant consultative mechanisms for adoption;
(d) evaluate the cooperative projects and draft reports on them, compile necessary documents into database, and submit annual progress reports to the Three-Party Committee or the Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Meeting for approval; and
(e) conduct research on important issues related to the trilateral cooperation, manage the Secretariat's website, and promote understanding of the trilateral cooperation.
2. The Secretariat shall carry out its functions and activities within its mandate authorized by and under the supervision of the Parties through the Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Meeting or in a manner decided by the Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
Article 4
In the host country, the Secretariat shall have the legal capacity:
(a) to contract;
(b) to acquire and dispose of movable and immovable property; and
(c) to institute legal proceedings.
Article 5
1. The Secretariat shall be comprised of a Secretary-General, two Deputy Secretary-Generals and Professional Staffs (hereinafter jointly referred to as the "officials") and General Services Staffs to be nominated and appointed, or employed, in the following ways:
(a) The Secretary-General shall be appointed at the Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Meeting upon nomination of a Party on a rotational basis in the order of the Republic of Korea, Japan and the People's Republic of China. The tenure of office shall be two years.
(b) Unless otherwise agreed by the Parties, each Party other than the Government of the country of the Secretary-General shall nominate a Deputy Secretary-General respectively who shall be appointed at the Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Meeting. The tenure of office shall, in general, be two years. The appointment of the Deputy Secretary-General may be renewed once for an additional period of up to two years with the approval of the Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
(c) The Secretary-General shall appoint the personnel seconded by the Parties as the Professional Staff.
(d) The Secretary-General may employ the General Services Staff as needed to carry out the functions and activities of the Secretariat.
2. The Secretariat shall have the Consultative Board comprised of the Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretary-Generals. The Consultative Board shall consult and make decisions by consensus on matters submitted for its consideration. The Consultative Board shall consult with the Parties on matters of importance in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 3.
3. Subject to the approval of the Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the Secretary-General may establish the departments of the Secretariat to efficiently carry out the functions and activities of the Secretariat with a view to facilitating trilateral cooperation in various areas.
Article 6
The Secretary-General shall represent the Secretariat and be responsible for the functions and activities carried out by the Secretariat. The Secretary-General shall also be responsible for the administration of the Secretariat, in particular as follows:
(a) prepare annual and, where necessary, ad-hoc reports on the functions and activities of the Secretariat, as well as an annual budget of the Secretariat, and submit them, with the approval of the Trilateral Senior Foreign Affairs Officials' Consultation, to the Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Meeting for approval;
(b) establish and amend internal rules and regulations of the Secretariat subject to the approval of the Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Meeting;
(c) establish the basic terms and conditions of the officials' secondment, including their salary matters, subject to the approval of the Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Meeting, and suggest the termination of the appointment of the Professional Staffs to the Party which seconds them after the consultation with the Deputy Secretary-Generals;
(d) establish General Services Staff positions, and terms and conditions of employment, including salaries, subject to the approval of the Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Meeting, and employ qualified personnel for the General Services Staff positions and dismiss the General Services Staff, as necessary, in accordance with the rules and regulations referred to in sub-paragraph (b) of this Article; and
(e) enter into contracts required for the operation of the Secretariat.