US-Japan-South Korea Deputy Foreign Ministers to Meet in Tokyo on 26th to Discuss Strengthening Cooperation Amid North Korean Threat

Strengthening Cooperation on North Korea Security Measures
1st Vice Minister to Hold Korea-Japan and Korea-US Bilateral Talks
Expectations for Concrete Discussions on 'Forced Labor Compensation'

Cho Hyun-dong, First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs (center), Wendy Sherman, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State (left), and Moritake Takeo, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, shake hands after concluding the joint press conference of the Korea-U.S.-Japan deputy foreign ministers held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 8th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] As security tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalate due to North Korea's continuous provocations, the deputy foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States, and Japan are coming together to strengthen security cooperation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 19th that First Deputy Minister Cho Hyun-dong will attend the 11th South Korea-U.S.-Japan Deputy Foreign Ministers' Meeting to be held in Tokyo, Japan, on the 26th. To this end, Deputy Minister Cho is scheduled to visit Japan from the 25th to the 27th.

The Ministry stated that Deputy Minister Cho, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori will discuss ways to enhance trilateral cooperation in response to North Korean issues and regional and global challenges. In particular, this meeting is being held as the three countries accelerate the restoration of security cooperation in response to North Korea's recent successive ballistic missile launches and the realization of tactical nuclear threats.

Earlier, at the meeting held in June, the South Korea-U.S.-Japan deputy foreign ministers assessed that North Korea's nuclear and missile threats have become a substantial danger and agreed on the importance of close trilateral cooperation. Attention is focused on whether the discussions, which agreed to strengthen trilateral security cooperation, will make further progress through this meeting.

On the previous day, Japan added five organizations involved in North Korea's nuclear and missile development to its list of independent sanctions targets. These organizations are already sanctioned by both South Korea and the U.S., and with Japan joining in overlapping sanctions, the trilateral sanctions network against North Korea is being evaluated as becoming more tightly reinforced.

At this meeting, cooperation measures in preparation for a major provocation by North Korea, such as conducting a seventh nuclear test, are also expected to be discussed. The three deputy ministers had agreed during a phone call on the 5th to hold the South Korea-U.S.-Japan Deputy Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Tokyo this month to continue consultations on responding to the North Korean nuclear issue. This is the first trilateral deputy foreign ministers' meeting in about four months since the Seoul meeting in June.

Meanwhile, during this visit to Japan, Deputy Minister Cho plans to hold a bilateral meeting with Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori to discuss key issues and mutual interests between the two countries. Since Deputy Minister Cho has been chairing a domestic public-private consultative body to seek solutions for compensation related to forced labor, there is interest in whether this bilateral meeting will develop into concrete discussions.

Additionally, Deputy Minister Cho is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman. They are expected to exchange views on shared interests such as the South Korea-U.S. alliance, North Korea and the North Korean nuclear issue, strengthening extended deterrence, and regional and global challenges.

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