South Korea, U.S., Japan agree on trilateral initiatives to counter North's threats
Published: 09 Dec. 2023, 14:51
Updated: 11 Dec. 2023, 09:31
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- SARAH KIM
- [email protected]
![South Korean National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong, center, poses for a photo with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, left, and Japanese National Security Secretariat Secretary General Takeo Akiba, right, after their joint press briefing at the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul Saturday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2023/12/11/ee70842a-3141-406d-8ae0-b71f06b9371c.jpg)
South Korean National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong, center, poses for a photo with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, left, and Japanese National Security Secretariat Secretary General Takeo Akiba, right, after their joint press briefing at the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul Saturday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
South Korean National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Japanese National Security Secretariat Secretary General Takeo Akiba held a three-way meeting at the Yongsan presidential office to discuss regional and global issues.
"We reaffirmed North Korea's obligation to denuclearize and prohibit military cooperation under UN Security Council resolutions and agreed to strengthen cooperation among the three countries to ensure strict implementation by the international community," Cho told reporters, alongside his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, in a joint press conference after their talks.
Cho lauded South Korea, the United States, Japan and Australia for jointly imposing sanctions earlier this month in response to North Korea's launch of its first military reconnaissance satellite on Nov. 21 and called for closer cooperation with the international community to respond to such "provocations."
He said the three sides also agreed to seek trilateral security cooperation, including through the real-time sharing of North Korean missile warning data and establishing multiyear plans for three-way military training exercises.
"We've also launched new trilateral initiatives to counter the threats posed by the DPRK, from its cybercrime and cryptocurrency money laundering to its reckless space and ballistic missile tests," Sullivan said in the briefing, referring to the North by an acronym for its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The trilateral security meeting was in keeping with an agreement reached by President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during their historic Camp David summit in August to strengthen three-way coordination. This trilateral summit came about after Yoon and Kishida, earlier in the year, normalized bilateral relations frayed by ongoing historical disputes and a trade spat.
The three security chiefs also agreed to deepen their cooperation on supply chains, emerging technologies, economic security and climate change issues.
They exchanged opinions on Pyongyang's nuclear and missile threats and trends in North Korea-Russia military cooperation and agreed to actively cooperate to ensure that the international community implements UN Security Council resolutions and prevent violations, the presidential office said in a statement. This includes blocking North Korea's cybercrimes and the funneling of foreign cash into the regime through IT workers dispatched abroad.
The three sides "discussed the deepening partnership" between North Korea and Russia, the White House said in a separate statement, and "agreed to work in close coordination to counter its destabilizing effects."
They further "reaffirmed the fundamental importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits," underscoring their commitment to freedom of navigation and international law in the South China Sea and East China Sea.
They also discussed "next steps in trilateral cooperation on economic security," including their supply chain early warning initiative and efforts to align the three countries' Indo-Pacific strategies and capacity efforts throughout the region, the White House said.
Later Saturday, Cho and Sullivan chaired the inaugural session of the Next Generation Critical and Emerging Technologies Dialogue in Seoul.
This dialogue was established by Yoon and Biden during their bilateral summit in April in Washington, during the Korean president's state visit to the United States to mark the 70th anniversary of the bilateral alliance.
Seoul and Washington plan to drive cooperation across six main strategic technology areas, including semiconductor supply chains and technology; biotechnology; batteries and clean energy technology; quantum science and technology; digital connectivity; and artificial intelligence.
They aim to anchor the initiative in strategic technologies to bolster economic prosperity, enhance resilience against supply chain disruptions and secure competitive advantages for the two countries as like-minded partners.
![President Yoon Suk Yeol, second from right, takes a commemorative photo with the national security advisers of South Korea, U.S. and Japan ahead of a dinner banquet at the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, Friday. From left, South Korean National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Yoon and Japanese National Security Secretariat Secretary General Takeo Akiba. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2023/12/11/f32e6d74-72a4-4dc4-a986-c438e19fc030.jpg)
President Yoon Suk Yeol, second from right, takes a commemorative photo with the national security advisers of South Korea, U.S. and Japan ahead of a dinner banquet at the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, Friday. From left, South Korean National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Yoon and Japanese National Security Secretariat Secretary General Takeo Akiba. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]
In the talks between Cho and Sullivan, the two sides agreed that South Korea's partial suspension of the inter-Korean military agreement of Sept. 19, 2018, was a "prudent and restrained measure against North Korea's continued violation of Security Council resolutions and agreements," the presidential office said.
On Nov. 22, Seoul partially suspended the 2018 inter-Korean military deal meant to reduce border tensions around the military demarcation line (MDL) in response to the Pyongyang's launch of a military spy satellite.
They also confirmed that South Korea and the United States are still open to dialogue with North Korea.
Later Friday, Yoon hosted the security advisers for dinner at the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, to discuss Korean Peninsula issues and international security.
BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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