Trilateral talks focus on North's threats, China and Russia

Diplomacy

Published: 14 Feb. 2023, 17:01

Trilateral talks focus on North's threats, China and Russia

From right, South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori pose for a photo ahead of their trilateral talks at the U.S. Department of State in Washington on Monday. [FOREIGN MINISTRY]

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman stressed that Washington in coordination with Seoul and Tokyo aims to push back on North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and challenges from China and Russia after talks with her South Korean and Japanese counterparts Monday.

South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori and Sherman held a joint press conference after holding a trilateral meeting in Washington which focused on coordination on security issues like North Korea's denuclearization, the war in Ukraine and other key issues in the Indo-Pacific region.

"Standing united, our nations will deter the DPRK and urge it to give up its nuclear weapons program and abide by its obligations under UN Security Council resolutions," said Sherman alongside Cho and Mori. DPRK is the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The three-way talks come amid indications of strengthening solidarity between Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow as those nations face international criticism over a host of issues, including North Korea's continued development of its nuclear weapons program, China's recent alleged surveillance activities including its spy balloons in the United States and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Sherman said their talks touched on the challenges posed by China and reiterated the message that the United States "will remain aligned" with South Korea, Japan and its other allies and partners to push back on Chinese behavior that "challenges the rules-based regional and international order."

She elaborated that the United States would continue to counter China's destabilizing activities in the South and East China Seas, work at maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and alongside South Korea and Japan find areas where collaboration with China is possible in areas vital to international security.

"Our countries' actions alongside partners across the globe are an unmistakable sign that we will stand firm against any attempts by any nation to change international borders by force," said Sherman. "We will hold Russia accountable. We will stay united in defense of Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity and fundamental rights."

She highlighted South Korea and Japan's "steadfast support, assistance and cooperation in seeking to end the suffering endured by the Ukrainian people."

Sherman also said that the United States plans to enhance cooperation with other regional partners like Australia, India and New Zealand and deepen ties between Indo-Pacific nations and NATO.

"One year ago, the United States unveiled our Indo-Pacific Strategy, and in conjunction with the ROK [Republic of Korea], Japan, and regional partners, we are putting that plan into practice," said Sherman, including in areas such as food security, energy affordability and humanitarian aid.

Washington is further coordinating with Seoul and Tokyo to tackle climate change; illegal, unregulated fishing; equitable access to infrastructure investment; and defense of the rules-based order, she added.

The United States announced its Indo-Pacific Strategy in February 2022, a policy widely seen as alienating China amid the intensifying Sino-U.S. rivalry.

South Korea announced its own version of a strategy for a "free, peaceful and prosperous" Indo-Pacific region last December, seen as a move aligning Seoul closer to Washington.

"We committed ourselves to respond firmly to any North Korean provocation and work toward complete denuclearization of North Korea," said Cho in the joint press conference. "Indeed, peace without denuclearization is fake peace."

He pointed out that North Korea launched a record number of missiles last year and is threatening to conduct further intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and military satellite launches.

Cho urged North Korea to return to denuclearization talks, leaving the door open to dialogue, and also expressed "deep concern over the human rights situation in North Korea."

On a reporter's question on China's alleged surveillance balloons, Cho said that "any infringement of other countries' territorial sovereignty can never be tolerated, against which the necessary measures can be taken in accordance with international law."

He said that the three envoys agreed to "strongly condemn Russia's ongoing attacks, which are killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure in Ukraine."

Cho stressed that trilateral cooperation with Washington and Tokyo has increased since the onset of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, noting that the "scope of the cooperation agenda has been expanded from North Korea to encompass regional and global challenges, economic security and traditional and non-traditional security cooperation," including cyber security and space.

The UN Security Council reportedly failed to adopt a presidential statement condemning North Korea's ICBM launch in November last year.

Two members refused to engage in working-level negotiations, a spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the United Nation was quoted as telling the Voice of America on Tuesday, without naming names.

However, veto-wielding members of the Security Council, China and Russia, have traditionally backed North Korea and have been opposed to new sanctions or additional measures against Pyongyang.

Later Monday, Cho and Mori held bilateral talks for 150 minutes in Washington as South Korea and Japan tried to narrow their differences over the thorny issue of compensation for wartime forced laborers.

They last held talks last October in Tokyo.

The two countries are "still trying to find common ground," Cho told reporters after his talks with Mori, but said he can't comment further because it is a "sensitive issue" to both countries.

Seoul's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the two sides noted that "close consultations between diplomatic authorities are accelerating in order to quickly resolve pending issues and improve relations," as agreed to by the two countries' leaders.

The talks lasted longer than originally scheduled, something Cho said was not necessarily a bad thing.

However, it could also indicate that no conclusion was reached, and that more consultations are needed.

The meeting comes after Korea proposed establishing a public foundation through which Japanese companies can compensate victims of wartime forced labor during Japan's colonial rule over Korea. Some victims are expressing their opposition to the plan because it does not guarantee Tokyo's responsible apology and the Japanese companies' participation in compensation.

Foreign Minister Park Jin is likely to hold bilateral talks with his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi, at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, which kicks off later this week.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]