PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Tourism ministers from Japan, China and South Korea agreed Sunday to jointly address critical events that negatively affect tourism, such as natural disasters and outbreaks of infectious diseases.

The agreement was reached at a trilateral meeting in Pyeongchang, South Korea, attended by tourism minister Akihiro Ohata, South Korea culture minister Choung Byoung Gug and Shao Qiwei, director general of the China National Tourism Administration.

They also confirmed that the public and private sectors in all three countries will jointly mull measures to overcome the impact of the March 11, tsunami and nuclear disasters so foreign tourists will start visiting Japan again.

They also agreed to offer maximum cooperation on issuing adequate information in the event of critical incidents and to promote special campaigns for the recovery of the tourism industry.

The three ministers apparently took into account the fact that the events of March have drastically reduced the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan.

They said they will jointly develop a crisis management manual to determine how to deal with natural disasters, terrorism and disease outbreaks in a cooperative manner.