Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said Friday that Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is unlikely to officially meet with his Chinese and South Korean counterparts on the sidelines of the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum this weekend.

The annual APEC summit this year will be held in Russia's Far Eastern City of Vladivostock on Saturday and Sunday. Local media said the summit takes place at a time when rekindled territorial disputes have chilled Japan's respective bilateral ties with China and South Korea.