US-Korea-Japan Senior Representatives on North Korea Nuclear Issues to Meet in Seoul on the 3rd to Discuss Coordinated Measures

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] The senior representatives for North Korea's nuclear issue from South Korea, the United States, and Japan will hold a meeting in Seoul on the 3rd to discuss response measures amid the imminent threat of North Korea's 7th nuclear test.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kim Gun, head of the South Korean Peace Negotiation Headquarters for the Korean Peninsula, Sung Kim, the U.S. Special Representative for North Korea at the State Department, and Takehiro Funakoshi, Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are scheduled to hold a trilateral consultation on North Korea's nuclear issue at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Seoul on the morning of the same day.

This will be the first face-to-face consultation among the senior representatives for North Korea's nuclear issue from South Korea, the U.S., and Japan since the inauguration of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. Kim, who was appointed on the 13th of last month, will have his first meeting with his American and Japanese counterparts, Representative Kim and Director-General Funakoshi. Prior to the trilateral talks, a bilateral consultation between the South Korean and U.S. senior representatives is also expected to take place.

The reason for the senior representatives' meeting in Seoul this time is due to North Korea recently escalating its nuclear and missile threats, increasing the necessity for the three countries to devise response measures.

In particular, diplomatic circles are speculating that North Korea's 7th nuclear test is imminent. The three countries are expected to focus on discussing cooperation measures to enable a strong response should North Korea carry out additional provocations such as the 7th nuclear test.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, even if the three countries devise response measures against North Korea, strengthening sanctions through the international community is expected to be difficult. Due to vetoes from China and Russia, it is unlikely that a new UN Security Council resolution on North Korea sanctions will be passed.

Although additional UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea are difficult, the three countries are expected to cooperate in pressuring North Korea. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, said on the 26th of last month (local time), immediately after the Security Council's failure to pass a North Korea sanctions resolution, "In situations where the Security Council cannot unite, we will continue to consider independent actions, including sanctions, and coordinated actions with close allies and partners."

The three countries are also expected to discuss the impact of North Korea's COVID-19 situation on the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Meanwhile, South Korea, the U.S., and Japan will begin cooperation to devise measures against North Korea starting with the senior representatives' meeting. They plan to prepare response measures through a relay of meetings involving the three countries' heads of state, ministers, vice ministers, and senior representatives for North Korea's nuclear issue.

South Korea, the U.S., and Japan plan to respond to the trilateral cooperation among North Korea, China, and Russia through foreign vice minister and foreign minister consultations this month, as well as the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) summit attended by the three countries' leaders.

The trilateral foreign vice ministerial consultation will also be held in Seoul in the second week of this month. Wendy Sherman, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, and Takeo Mori, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, will visit South Korea to meet with Cho Hyun-dong, First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, to discuss responses to North Korean provocations, expansion of trilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region including the recently launched Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), and the situation in Ukraine.

Bilateral foreign minister talks between South Korea and the U.S. and between South Korea and Japan are also expected to be held within this month.

Foreign Minister Park Jin is likely to visit Washington DC in the mid-to-late part of this month to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and then visit Tokyo to hold talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently coordinating specific schedules with U.S. and Japanese diplomatic authorities.

The three countries' leaders are expected to meet at the NATO summit held in Madrid, Spain, at the end of this month. President Yoon has been invited to the NATO summit scheduled for the 29th to 30th and is considering attending. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is also expected to attend the NATO summit, making it highly likely that the three leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, will meet face-to-face in one place.

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