▲ Foreign ministers of South Korea, the U.S., and Japan sign a memorandum of cooperation on the Trilateral Arctic-Pacific Partnership
The foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States, and Japan agreed on October 30 local time to continue efforts to achieve peace, stability, and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, while urging North Korea to join in.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun held a trilateral foreign ministers' meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Atlanta on October 30.
The three ministers exchanged views on the recent situation on the Korean Peninsula and urged North Korea to participate in efforts to ease tensions and establish peace on the peninsula.
They also agreed to maintain a robust deterrence posture against North Korea based on close coordination and to work toward achieving peace, stability, and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and diplomacy.
Minister Cho emphasized that South Korea will fulfill its role and responsibility as a "pacemaker" to build a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula and resume North Korea-U.S. dialogue under close South Korea-U.S. coordination.
The U.S. Department of State also stated that the three ministers reaffirmed their firm commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.
According to the State Department, the Security Council resolutions whose implementation the three ministers emphasized include prohibitions on actions that support revenue generation for North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
In addition, they spoke highly of the activities of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), which detects North Korea's violations and evasions of UN Security Council sanctions.
The State Department said the three ministers also stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Secretary Rubio raised concerns over China's attempts to assert dominance in the South China Sea, its coercive actions in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea, and cooperation between China and Russia that undermines peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, the State Department said.
A press release from South Korea's Foreign Ministry did not directly mention China, only stating that the three ministers shared assessments of key regional and global situations, including "attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo," and agreed to strengthen related communication and coordination.
In economic security, they shared concerns over supply chain vulnerabilities, including the global energy crisis, and agreed to strengthen substantive cooperation on diversifying critical mineral supply chains, small modular reactors (SMRs), artificial intelligence (AI), and key emerging technologies.
On the same day, the ministers signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) for the Trilateral Arctic-Pacific Partnership (TAPP) to pursue maritime cooperation and economic partnerships in the Pacific Arctic region.
According to the Foreign Ministry, based on this agreement, the three countries agreed to strengthen maritime safety and emergency response activities as well as regional economic cooperation in the Arctic-Pacific region, with relevant cooperation to be fleshed out through the Arctic Council and a newly established working group.
The trilateral foreign ministers' meeting came about a month after their previous meeting held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month.
Meanwhile, on the occasion of the G20 meeting, Minister Cho had separate talks with Secretary Rubio and exchanged views on pending bilateral issues, including South Korea-U.S. relations, high-level exchanges, and visa matters.
The separate meeting between the South Korean and U.S. foreign ministers took place amid observations that bilateral relations face challenges, including recent disruptions in issuing U.S. visit visas for South Korean lawmakers and delays in security consultations.
However, the Foreign Ministry did not disclose specific details of the discussions between the two ministers.
(Photo: Secretary Marco Rubio's X account, Yonhap News)
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