Joint Discussion by South Korea, US, and Japan National Security Advisors on North Korea Provocations... Agreement to Strengthen Security Cooperation

Director Cho Tae-yong Discusses North Korea Provocation Response Measures in Separate Phone Talks with US and Japan
Security Chiefs of Three Countries: "Ballistic Missile Launch is a Clear Violation of Security Council Resolutions"

The national security chiefs of South Korea, the United States, and Japan have agreed to actively promote trilateral cooperation in response to North Korea's launch of a long-range ballistic missile.

Cho Tae-yong, South Korea's National Security Office Director, held separate phone consultations on the afternoon of the 18th with Jake Sullivan, U.S. National Security Advisor, and Takeo Akiba, Director of Japan's National Security Secretariat, to discuss joint response measures to North Korean provocations. The trilateral security chiefs' discussion was promptly conducted in accordance with the "Commitment to Consult" agreed upon at the Camp David summit in August.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, the Joint Chiefs of Staff stated in the morning, "North Korea's ballistic missile was launched at a high angle, flew approximately 1,000 km, and landed in the East Sea," adding, "Our military has been tracking the missile launch preparations in close coordination with the U.S." They further explained, "South Korea, the U.S., and Japan were prepared with joint detection and tracking readiness," and "the missile launch warning information was closely shared among the three parties."

In response, the three national security chiefs condemned the recent North Korean long-range ballistic missile (ICBM) launch as a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions and a serious threat to peace and security not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in the Northeast Asian region and the international community. In particular, the three security chiefs agreed to actively promote trilateral cooperation through collaboration at the UN Security Council, coordination of unilateral and multilateral sanctions against North Korea, joint military responses, countermeasures against North Korea's malicious cyber activities, and blocking illegal foreign currency earnings. They also evaluated the trilateral security cooperation utilizing the real-time sharing system of North Korean missile warning information and agreed to further strengthen it.

Earlier, the Presidential Office held a National Security Council (NSC) Standing Committee meeting chaired by Cho Tae-yong in the morning. The standing committee members strongly condemned North Korea for blatantly ignoring international warnings and Security Council resolutions by launching a military reconnaissance satellite followed by a long-range ballistic missile using solid fuel, seriously threatening peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the international community.

President Yoon Suk-yeol also issued directives. He stated, "Respond immediately and overwhelmingly to any provocations by North Korea against our territory and people," and added, "To this end, firmly maintain the ROK-U.S. combined defense posture and actively promote trilateral joint responses by utilizing the real-time sharing system of North Korean missile warning information." He further said, "We will actively cooperate with the international community to condemn and block North Korea's illegal nuclear and missile activities," and "Accelerate the tasks of the ROK-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) to further strengthen the ROK-U.S. nuclear deterrence execution capability."

The standing committee members lamented that the North Korean regime is squandering enormous funds on missile launches while neglecting the difficult livelihoods of its people. They pointed out the regime's inhumane behavior of granting privileges only to a small ruling faction in the Pyongyang area while ignoring the hardships of the vast majority of residents, and emphasized the need to continuously and accurately inform the international community about this.

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