South Korea, U.S., Japan hold first trilateral Indo-Pacific talks

Diplomacy

Published: 07 Jan. 2024, 16:01 Updated: 07 Jan. 2024, 16:03

South Korea, U.S., Japan hold first trilateral Indo-Pacific talks

From left, Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and Japanese Foreign Deputy Minister Kobe Yasuhiro in Washington on Friday. [MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS]

South Korea, the United States and Japan held their first trilateral Indo-Pacific dialogue in Washington on Friday.

According to the South Korean Foreign Ministry on Sunday, the three countries through a joint statement condemned North Korea for its continuing development of “unlawful” nuclear and ballistic missile programs and for its military cooperation with Russia.

The three countries also raised concerns of the escalating “dangerous behaviors” of China in the South China Sea while reaffirming the importance of peace and stability on the Taiwan Strait.

On Friday the South Korean Foreign Ministry demanded that Russia stop importing arms from North Korea, which are being used in the war against Ukraine.

The South Korean government stressed that the cooperation between Russia and North Korea is a clear violation of the United Nations Security Council’s sanction, of which Moscow is a member.

On Thursday, the White House accused Russia of using short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) provided by North Korea in attacks against Ukraine.

According to National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications John Kirby, the Russian military is believed to have launched at least one of the North Korean ballistic missiles into Ukraine on Dec. 30.

Kirby also said Russia used multiple North Korean missiles in a heavy airstrike on Tuesday.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry stressed that the dialogue on Friday was the official launching of an agreement that the leaders of the three countries — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida — had agreed upon during the summit at Camp David on Aug. 18 last year.

The dialogue is also the first consultative body since South Korea announced its own Indo-Pacific strategy in December 2022, in which the goal is to shift from a foreign policy that had heavily centered on the inter-Korean relationship to a larger role in bringing peace and prosperity to the Indo-Pacific region.

“The trilateral Indo-Pacific Dialogue is a new chapter in our countries’ partnership and an important step forward to strengthen and more closely align our policies globally,” the joint statement read.

The Korea Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and Japanese Foreign Deputy Minister Kobe Yasuhiro attended the meeting.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]