The second-ranking diplomats from Japan, the United States and South Korea agreed Friday to continue close coordination on North Korea and other challenges to regional and global stability, with a plan to set up a new coordinating body to further align their policies.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the envisioned body will likely be "a secretariat of some kind" at the outset of a meeting he hosted for his Japanese and South Korean counterparts at his farmhouse in a tiny Virginia village near Washington.
Campbell, in the presence of the press, also said the three countries are preparing for a meeting of their leaders in the coming months, noting, "This is the highest priority for us for the remainder of this year."
The three-way talks could be held as early as in July on the sidelines of a NATO summit marking the 75th anniversary of the transatlantic alliance to be hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington.
As in the past two years, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol are expected to be invited to the NATO summit as leaders of its four Asia-Pacific partners, also including Australia and New Zealand.
"The more we work together, the more we can achieve," Japan's Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano said ahead of the meeting with Campbell and South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong Kyun.
Following a trilateral summit at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David near Washington in August last year, the three countries have been broadening the scope of their cooperation, not just in Northeast Asia but globally, with China's growing political and economic clout in focus.
The vice ministerial meeting took place as North Korea has recently resumed testing missile technology. On Monday, North Korea's attempt to launch a military reconnaissance satellite failed and three days later it test-fired more than 10 suspected short-range ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan.
According to the U.S. State Department, the trio "strongly condemned" North Korea's recent actions that violate multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.
They also urged North Korea to "engage in substantive dialogue" with the three countries "without preconditions."
During the press availability, Campbell said the Biden administration has been asking China to pressure North Korean officials to "refrain from such action and to accept the offers of dialogue and diplomacy that each of our three nations put on the table."
"I think they too have some anxieties of steps that North Korea has taken with respect to providing dangerous military equipment to Russia" for its war against Ukraine, he added.
In addition to North Korea, the department indicated the trio discussed various issues deemed important to ensure the Indo-Pacific and wider world remain free, open and secure.
The issues included supporting Ukraine's recovery and efforts to hold Russia accountable for its invasion, the situation surrounding Taiwan and strengthening economic security and cooperation on emerging technologies.
"Our shared ambitions and values will continue to guide our efforts and bind us to increase prosperity while protecting democracy and defending the rules-based international system," the department said in a statement.
The diplomats said they will meet again in the latter half of this year in Seoul.
