Seoul, July 16 (IANS) Vice foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold trilateral talks this week to discuss ways of further enhancing cooperation on North Korean issues and economic security, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Wednesday.
First South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi are scheduled to meet in Japan on Friday, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The upcoming talks come about nine months after their last meeting held in Seoul in October. It also marks the first since the inauguration of President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump’s new administration.
“The three sides plan to hold broad and in-depth discussions on a wide range of topics, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula, regional dynamics, economic security, technology, energy and ways to enhance trilateral cooperation,” the ministry said in a press release.
Park plans to hold one-on-one talks with his US and Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of the trilateral meeting, it said, Yonhap news agency reported.
On October 17 last year, in the Japan-US-South Korea Trilateral Vice Foreign Ministerial Meeting, the three nations reiterated their shared view that North Korea’s nuclear and missile activities constitute a grave and imminent threat to regional security and pose a clear and serious challenge to the international community.
Furthermore, they exchanged views on the situation surrounding North Korea following its behaviour and concurred that they will continue to coordinate their responses, based on which, they reaffirmed that they would continue to work closely together toward the complete denuclearisation of North Korea in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
The countries also concurred to advance their efforts toward the realisation of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)” and to ensure peace and stability of the international community, through close coordination among Japan, US and South Korea.
–IANS
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