South Korean, US and Japanese officials held consultations after two weeks to discuss the regional situation, the Chosun Ilbo reported. Seoul's statement on the outcome left out China's ICBM test and the Taiwan Strait.

Differences in wording among the three readouts are a recurring issue: what each capital names and what it omits about the same meeting reveals its diplomatic priorities.

The government's position is that an item missing from a statement was not necessarily missing from the discussion. In practice, what is said in a meeting and what appears in public text do not always match.

Still, the reading persists that Seoul is modulating its language out of regard for relations with Beijing. Korea is bound by the structural fact of being a US ally while China is its largest trading partner.

The trilateral format has settled into a broad agenda covering North Korea, supply chains and advanced-technology cooperation. Middle East developments and the safety of sea lanes have recently joined the list.

The Sinophone Bridge Times cautions against reading a wording gap directly as a rift. A readout is a negotiated product, a text each government files down with an eye on both domestic opinion and the other party.