US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who arrived in Seoul to attend annual security talks, met with his South Korean counterpart Shin Won-sik, while Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara participated in the meeting via video link.
“The three ministers assessed that the development of a system for sharing data on North Korean missile launches is in the final stages and agreed to formally activate the mechanism in December,” Seoul’s defense ministry said in a statement.
The top officials also agreed to develop a multi-year plan for regular trilateral exercises by the end of 2023 to make training more systematic and effective starting in January.
During the meeting, “the three leaders reviewed regional security issues, including the growing nuclear and missile threat from the DPRK,” the US Defense Department said in a statement, using North Korea’s official name.
The ministers followed through on agreements reached by their leaders at a trilateral summit in Camp David hosted by US President Joe Biden in August.
Seoul and Washington have stepped up defense cooperation after Pyongyang conducted a record series of weapons tests this year.
The conservative government of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is also making major efforts to improve historically strained relations with former colonial ruler Japan.
The Camp David meeting was the first time the three leaders met for a separate summit rather than on the sidelines of a larger event.
Defense chiefs also condemned increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia as a violation of United Nations resolutions, according to a statement from Seoul’s defense ministry.
Historical allies Russia and North Korea are subject to international sanctions, the former over its invasion of Ukraine and the latter over its nuclear weapons and missile programs.
Their growing military cooperation is a concern for Ukraine and its allies, especially after the September meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Sunday’s meeting came just days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Seoul and warned that military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow were growing and dangerous.
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2024-09-20 15:58:13
