The Pentagon said in a statement Saturday that the document “institutionalizes trilateral security cooperation between the defense ministries,” which includes political consultations, information sharing, trilateral exercises, and “cooperation in defense exchanges aimed at promoting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, the Pacific region, and beyond.”
The memorandum was signed during a trilateral meeting in Tokyo, where the ministers also discussed general security issues.
According to the statement, the ministers expressed their commitment to strengthening cooperation “to contain the nuclear and missile threats emanating from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” and expressed “concern” about Pyongyang’s cooperation with Moscow and the signing of the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement between Russia and North Korea.
The last time the defense chiefs of the three countries met was in June on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue conference in Singapore, and then they announced plans to hold joint exercises.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Laos on Saturday that the recent joint nuclear planning agreement between the United States and South Korea was worrying, especially since they were “trying to lure Japan into this joint nuclear planning project.”
Lavrov pointed to the fact that many “troikas and quartets” have been created in the region, and said: “For example, the United States, Japan and South Korea are actively escalating the atmosphere around the Korean Peninsula, militarizing their presence there and conducting exercises that are openly aimed at preparing for military action.”
Source: RT
#Japanese #South #Korean #Defense #Ministers #Sign #Memorandum #Cooperation
2024-07-29 03:04:03
