U.S. diplomat stresses supply chains, denuclearization in trilateral agenda

Diplomacy

Published: 17 Feb. 2022, 18:18

U.S. diplomat stresses supply chains, denuclearization in trilateral agenda

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink speaks at a hearing with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Dec. 8 in Washington, D.C. The hearing was held for the committee to examine U.S. Policy on Taiwan and the future of the country's diplomatic relationship. [AFP/YONHAP]

The Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation on supply chains is as important a trilateral agenda as their work on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink, in speaking with the press on Thursday.

“I would say both issues are important matters for discussion among our three allied countries,” said Kritenbrink at a teleconference call with the press on Thursday, when asked whether the trilateral agenda on economic security is as important as the denuclearization of North Korea.

“Making sure that we have strong and resilient supply chains, making sure that our countries and our world class companies are able to protect their trade secrets and intellectual property […] these sorts of issues will continue to be central to our cooperation going forward,” he said.

Korea’s Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, his Japanese counterpart Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Saturday, holding their first in-person ministerial meeting.

Although North Korea security issues and its recent provocations were “a top priority for [the] three countries” in the discussions, the three leaders were able to address wider, but nonetheless important, topics such as “reaffirming the centrality of Asean, ending the crisis in Burma and […] addressing tensions in the Taiwan strait,” said Kritenbrink.

The trilateral cooperation on regional security and economic issues was also highlighted in the updated U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy released on Friday, which reiterates the U.S. interest in a free, connected and open Indo-Pacific region, a vision it says is tested by “the PRC, the climate crisis and the pandemic,” referring to China by the acronym for its official name, the People’s Republic of China.

And the Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation in the region is “of paramount importance” and “key to confronting a wide range of regional and global challenges,” the assistant secretary emphasized.

Korea and Japan, however, have been embroiled in a trade spat in recent years, not to mention several deadlocked issues in regards to the history of Japanese wartime forced labor and sexual slavery.

Japan placed export restrictions on Korea from July 2019, impacting Korea’s semiconductor industries, and later removed Korea from its so-called white list of most-trusted trading partners.

These restrictions were largely seen from Korea as Japan’s retaliation for a set of court rulings on the forced labor issue, dating back to late 2018.

The rulings acknowledged the illegality of Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule and recognized that the Korean victims of Japanese forced labor during World War II had the right to demand compensation from the Japanese companies.

Tokyo maintains that all compensation issues related to colonial rule were resolved through a 1965 treaty normalizing bilateral relations.

Kritenbrink addressed these challenges during the call on Thursday.

“Look, it goes without saying that Japan and the Republic of Korea are two of America’s closest, most important and strongest alliance relationships in the entire world,” he said. “There is no doubt that the United States is stronger, more prosperous and more secure when our closest allies in Northeast Asia are working closely together and when we are working together trilaterally.

“So in our view, even while Japan and the Republic of Korea are addressing certain sensitive issues in their bilateral relationship, we continue to move forward to embrace opportunities to advance our common regional and international priorities,” he said.

The trilateral meeting succeeded at least 11 missile tests from North Korea, all of which took place in January.

“Issues related to security on the Korean Peninsula, and particularly the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, is of course a top priority for our three countries,” said Kritenbrink. “During the recent trilateral meetings, the United States had the opportunity to reiterate our ironclad security guarantees to our South Korean and Japanese allies.”

Foreign Minister Chung is traveling to France on Tuesday to attend a meeting between ministers of the European Union and some 30 foreign ministers from the Indo-Pacific region. China was not invited.

Chung is also scheduled to meet with Audrey Azoulay, director-general of Unesco, during his visit. Chung is expected to bring up Japan's recommendation of the Sado mine as a Unesco World Heritage site. Over 1,000 Koreans were forced to work at the mine during World War II.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]