SEOUL IS BOLSTERING SECURITY TIES WITH WASHINGTON AND TOKYO TO COUNTER GROWING THREATS FROM PYONGYANG AS WELL AS ITS KEY ALLIES MOSCOW AND BEINJING.
First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts Wendy Sherman and Mori Takeo reaffirmed their commitment to protect peace and their shared values in the Asia-Pacific region at a meeting in Washington, Monday (local time), vowing to explore “new areas” for cooperation.
The three countries condemned North Korea’s missile launches, which reached an unprecedented number in 2022, calling for all U.N. members to stay united against such acts as the once firm unity comes under increasing threat with recalcitrant China and Russia two of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.
“The (U.S.) Deputy Secretary reiterated that the U.S. commitments to defend Japan and the ROK (South Korea) are ironclad and backed by the full range of capabilities, including nuclear, and reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to strengthen extended deterrence with Japan and the ROK,” they said in a joint statement released after the meeting. “The Deputy Secretary and the Vice Ministers condemned the DPRK’s (North Korea) increasingly aggressive rhetoric regarding its nuclear program and called on the DPRK to immediately cease its irresponsible actions and to abide by its obligations under all relevant UN Security Council resolutions.”
The three praised the “resounding success” of joint military drills on ballistic missile defense and anti-submarine warfare, saying they would continue to search for new areas for security cooperation and proceed with systemizing real-time data-sharing on North Korean missiles.
They also voiced for the international rule of law and human rights, in a message that appeared to be aimed at not only North Korea but also China, which has been caught in a diplomatic bind after its surveillance balloon was destroyed in American skies by the U.S. military earlier this month, and a war-waging Russia.
The balloon incident has become a new flashpoint between the two superpowers, with U.S. politicians slamming Beijing for the “unacceptable violation of sovereignty” and Chinese counterparts accusing them of having done the same in the past.
South Korea and Japan openly supported the U.S. response to the balloon. Cho said he trusts what the U.S. stated on the issue.
Cho, Sherman and Mori reiterated their “firm commitment to the rule of law, including the freedom of navigation and overflight.” In the statement, they also expressed their “support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity” and condemned Russia’s “unacceptable nuclear rhetoric.”
One of the most pressing challenges to the trilateral partnership is the issue of forced labor during Japan’s colonial era (1910-45), which the South Korean government is now seeking to resolve by compensating the victims with private companies willing to support them.
Speaking to reporters after talks with Mori for more than two hours afterward, Cho said the two countries tried to narrow their differences without specifying what progress was made. Yet the two agreed to improve the relations that they described as “vital not only to the security and prosperity” of the region but also to their shared global interests.
The same day, Wei Fenghe, China’s defense minister, sent a congratulatory message to his North Korean counterpart Kang Sun-nam on the occasion of Pyongyang’s 75th founding anniversary of its armed forces on Feb. 8, pledging efforts to promote the ties of the two countries’ militaries, according to the North’s official the Korean Central News Agency, same message came from Sergei Shoigu the Russian defense minister congratulating North-Korea at their anniversary and pledging corporation support from the Russian people on defense and economic ties.
CIC PRESS TEAM