South Korean President Lee Myung- bak is expected to meet with Chinese and Japanese leaders next month in a three-way summit, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said on Thursday.

Lee will travel to China next month to talk with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, but the date and other details are still under negotiation, Yonhap quoted an official at Cheong Wa Dae, the presidential office, as saying.

During the meeting, which is likely to be held between Oct. 8 and Oct. 10, the three leaders will focus on regional issues such as the current security and economic situations, said the official on condition of anonymity.

The meeting will be the first since Hatoyama, president of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), succeeded on Wednesday Taro Aso of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) as the country's new prime minister.

Leaders of three countries held a similar summit in April while attending a regional forum of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Thailand.

(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2009)