High-Level Defense Officials of Korea, the US, and Japan Hold Phone Talks... "Reaffirm Importance of Security Cooperation"

Discussion on North Korea's Missile Launches
Assessment of the Situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the Region

On the 11th, when North Korea launched a projectile presumed to be a ballistic missile into the East Sea again after six days, citizens at Odusan Observatory in Paju-si, Gyeonggi Province, were observing a village in Kaepung-gun, North Korea. / Paju = Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Senior defense officials from South Korea, the United States, and Japan held a phone call on the afternoon of the 13th to discuss responses to North Korea's missile launches, the Ministry of National Defense announced.

The phone consultation took place two days after North Korea launched a ballistic missile, which it claimed to be a 'hypersonic missile,' under the observation of State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un on the 11th.

The consultation included Kim Manki, Director General of Defense Policy at the Ministry of National Defense, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner, and Japan's Kazuo Masuda, Director of the Defense Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Defense, representing their respective countries.

During the call, they shared assessments of the recent North Korean missile launches as well as the situation on the Korean Peninsula and the regional security environment. Additionally, South Korea and the U.S. agreed to conduct an in-depth analysis of the increasing changes in North Korea's missile threats and to prepare future response measures.

Furthermore, the Ministry of National Defense reported that the three countries reaffirmed the importance of trilateral security cooperation and agreed to hold a trilateral defense ministers' meeting on a mutually agreed date in the future.

They had previously held a phone consultation in October last year, immediately after North Korea conducted the first test launch of the hypersonic missile 'Hwasong-8' and a new surface-to-air missile test launch in succession.

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