The foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States, and Japan are set to hold a trilateral meeting in Manila, Philippines, today (July 22, local time) to share information on North Korea-Russia and North Korea-China exchanges and discuss ways to coordinate their response to North Korea.

North Korea is expected to skip the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) this year, just as it did last year.

The country appears to be focusing on bilateral diplomacy with Russia and China while distancing itself from multilateral diplomatic stages.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi will hold the trilateral meeting this afternoon.

This meeting comes approximately two weeks after their previous trilateral session held on the sidelines of the NATO summit on July 7 (local time).

The ministers are in Manila to attend ASEAN-related foreign ministerial meetings, including the ARF and the East Asia Summit (EAS).

The agenda for the meeting is expected to cover a wide range of issues, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula, the Middle East, economic security, ASEAN cooperation, collaboration on Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), and responses to transnational online crimes.

The South Korean government maintains the position that recent North Korea-Russia and North Korea-China exchanges should contribute to peace, stability, and North Korea's return to dialogue, rather than escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Park Il stated during a regular briefing yesterday, "The government is closely monitoring trends in exchanges between North Korea and Russia, as well as between North Korea and China." He added, "We will continue our diplomatic efforts to ensure that these exchanges move in a direction that contributes to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the return of North Korea to dialogue."

He further noted, "When the foreign ministers of South Korea, the U.S., and Japan meet, they will share information on the status of North Korea-Russia and North Korea-China exchanges and exchange views on how to respond effectively. They also plan to discuss various pending issues related to trilateral cooperation, as well as Korean Peninsula affairs."

Meanwhile, North Korea is not expected to send a delegation to the ARF this year, following its absence last year.

The ARF is the only regional multilateral security consultative body in which North Korea has participated.

Since joining in 2000, North Korea has utilized the ARF as a multilateral diplomatic venue to engage with regional countries, and it has previously engaged in intense diplomatic battles with South Korea over the chairman's statement.

Since 2019, when the second North Korea-U.S. summit collapsed, North Korea began lowering the level of its participation by sending ambassadors to the host country or to the ASEAN mission instead of its foreign minister. Last year, it did not attend the meeting held in Malaysia, marking its first absence since joining the forum.

Diplomatic observers suggest that as North Korea-Russia and North Korea-China cooperation strengthens, North Korea may be placing more weight on bilateral diplomacy than on multilateral engagement.

In fact, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui recently visited Moscow, where she met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 19 and held strategic talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on July 20, continuing the trend of deepening North Korea-Russia ties.

North Korea has also solidified its relationship with China through high-level exchanges following Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to North Korea and the 65th anniversary of the signing of the North Korea-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance last month.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)