▲ Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi pose for a commemorative photo ahead of their meeting in New York, U.S., on October 21 (local time).
The foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States, and Japan are scheduled to meet in the U.S. on October 30 (local time) to discuss issues concerning the Korean Peninsula, regional and global affairs, and ways to cooperate on economic security.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun plans to hold a trilateral foreign ministers meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Atlanta, U.S., on the afternoon of the same day.
The U.S. Department of State also announced through Secretary Rubio's schedule that the trilateral meeting will be held behind closed doors at 4:40 PM on October 30, followed by the three ministers attending the signing ceremony for the trilateral Arctic and Pacific partnership cooperation memorandum at 5:10 PM.
This meeting marks the fourth trilateral gathering in four months, following meetings on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey on July 7, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in the Philippines on July 22, and the UN General Assembly in New York, U.S., on September 21, coming about a month after the previous meeting.
The foreign ministers of the three countries are expected to evaluate North Korea's recent ballistic missile launch and the closer ties between North Korea and China following North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's visit to China, and discuss coordination on North Korea.
As the South Korean government has emphasized its role as a "pacemaker" for the resumption of U.S.-North Korea dialogue, attention is focused on whether they will exchange views on ways to induce North Korea's return to dialogue.
Director of National Security Wi Sung-lac stated the previous day during the National Assembly Steering Committee's parliamentary audit, "As President Trump has expressed his willingness for dialogue, we will do our utmost to ensure that momentum leads to actual dialogue."
Previously, the trilateral foreign ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea and urged Pyongyang to return to dialogue during their meeting in New York on September 21.
In their joint statement at the time, while emphasizing that the door to dialogue remains open, they reaffirmed their commitment to prohibiting revenue generation support for North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and welcomed progress in the activities of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) and responses to North Korean cyber threats.
Along with these issues, regional situations such as the Taiwan Strait and measures for energy and economic security cooperation are expected to be major agenda items.
During last month's meeting, the three countries discussed peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, opposed economic coercion such as arbitrary export restriction measures, and agreed to strengthen the early warning system for supply chains.
Minister Cho also plans to hold bilateral meetings with major European countries on the sidelines of this G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
(Photo: Provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yonhap News)
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