Deputy Foreign Ministers of Korea, the US, and Japan Discuss Trilateral Cooperation on North Korea's Military Provocations

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] On the 8th, the deputy foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States, and Japan discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in response to North Korea's military provocations in Seoul.

Cho Hyun-dong, First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs (center), Wendy Sherman, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State (right), and Takeo Mori, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, are posing for a commemorative photo on the 8th at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, before the 10th Korea-U.S.-Japan Deputy Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cho Hyun-dong, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Korea, Wendy Sherman, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, and Mori Takeo, Administrative Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, held the 10th South Korea-U.S.-Japan Deputy Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Seoul on the morning of the same day.

The three countries reportedly discussed measures to respond to North Korea's nuclear threats during the meeting.

The three deputy ministers are expected to discuss additional sanctions and pressure measures to be pursued at the United Nations Security Council in the event of a North Korean nuclear test and send a message urging North Korea to refrain from provocations.

Additionally, there is interest in how much progress will be made in trilateral security cooperation discussions, which had not been activated due to strained South Korea-Japan relations.

The United States values South Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation not only for coordination on North Korea but also for its Indo-Pacific strategy to counter China and responses to global issues such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier, the South Korea-U.S. deputy foreign ministers stated in a bilateral meeting the previous day, "We reaffirmed the importance and utility of trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan for addressing the Korean Peninsula issue and for regional and global peace and prosperity, and agreed to discuss specific and practical cooperation measures among the three countries at the meeting."

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister Cho is also scheduled to hold a separate bilateral meeting with Administrative Vice Minister Mori after the trilateral deputy ministers' meeting.

It was reported that Vice Minister Mori arrived in South Korea the day before. This is the first visit by an Administrative Vice Minister, the highest-ranking official in the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to South Korea in about 4 years and 7 months since October 2017.

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