China, Japan, S.Korea leaders to meet in Dec

BEIJING Oct 24 (Reuters) - Leaders of three North Asian countries will meet in mid-December to intensify regional efforts to fight the global financial crisis and to discuss issues involving North Korea's nuclear program, South Korea said on Friday.

"Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso invited President Lee Myung-bak to a summit of South Korea, China and Japan to be held in Fukuoka in mid-December," South Korean presidential spokesman Lee Dong-gwan told Korean reporters at a briefing.

"Lee accepted it. Aso also said that close cooperation by the three countries would be very important in resolving North Korea's nuclear problems," the spokesman added, after a bilateral meeting between Tokyo and Seoul on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe meeting.

(Reporting by Kim Yeon-hee; Editing by Ken Wills)