Korea-US-Japan Foreign Ministers Meeting Begins, Focus on North Korea Nuclear Solution

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong has taken steps to establish trilateral cooperation measures among South Korea, the United States, and Japan regarding North Korea's nuclear and missile issues in Hawaii, USA.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 12th (local time), Minister Chung will consecutively hold South Korea-US, South Korea-Japan foreign minister meetings, followed by a trilateral foreign ministers' meeting among South Korea, the US, and Japan to discuss measures against North Korea's missile provocations and ways to resume North Korea nuclear negotiations, among other current issues.

Earlier, on the 10th, the three countries held a senior representatives' meeting on North Korea nuclear issues, which served as a preliminary meeting for the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting, to discuss responses following North Korea's missile provocations.

This is the first time this year that the foreign ministers of the three countries have held an in-person meeting since North Korea's ongoing missile tests.

The trilateral foreign ministers' meeting is the first in about four months since the meeting held on September 22 last year in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

In this meeting, the three countries are expected to share their understanding of the seriousness of North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and seek new response measures, including additional countermeasures.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

After the meeting, the three ministers are expected to hold a joint press conference to express their positions and countermeasures regarding North Korea's missile provocations and to present measures to strengthen trilateral cooperation and collaboration.

However, if some differences in perception cannot be narrowed, there is a possibility of last-minute difficulties.

Regarding the North Korea nuclear issue, South Korea emphasizes the need to resume dialogue to overcome the deadlock, but Japan has maintained a hardline stance by insisting on "complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization" (CVID) of North Korea, making the coordination of positions a key issue.

Among these, the South Korea-US foreign ministers' meeting is drawing attention. Minister Chung is scheduled to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for bilateral consultations on issues concerning the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia.

The United States basically maintains a dialogue stance but has placed more emphasis on additional sanctions this year while simultaneously applying pressure on North Korea.

It is also known that global issues such as the Ukraine crisis, where the risk of imminent conflict continues due to the possibility of further Russian military actions, and countering China will be discussed at this meeting.

Earlier, Minister Chung told reporters, "Maintaining the status quo is not an option regarding the Korean Peninsula issue. There can be no retreat in the peace process on the Korean Peninsula," and strongly urged North Korea to come to the dialogue table.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.