By UN Journal Kayla Lee
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, who is in New York to attend the 80th UN General Assembly High-Level Session, held a South Korea, the US, and Japan Foreign Ministers' Meeting on September 22 with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya.
They discussed pending issues on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, as well as ways to enhance trilateral economic and security cooperation, and adopted a joint statement.
Minister Cho expressed his gratitude for attending the meeting for the first time since taking office, at a time when the commitment to trilateral cooperation is stronger than ever, with the four ministerial meetings being held this year.
He praised the meeting as a useful framework for enhancing policy coordination at all levels in various areas, including regional issues and economic and security cooperation.
Secretary Rubio and Minister Iwaya also welcomed Minister Cho's attendance and agreed to further strengthen South Korea, the US, and Japan's cooperation for regional peace, stability, and prosperity.
The three ministers assessed the achievements made so far, including ROK-US-Japan security cooperation and cyber cooperation, and agreed to maintain close coordination on North Korea policy while upholding the principles of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and a deterrence posture against North Korea.
Minister Cho proposed active cooperation to achieve substantive progress toward peace on the Korean Peninsula and the resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue, including the resumption of dialogue with North Korea.
The ministers exchanged views on ways to deepen cooperation in economic security cooperation and advanced technology. Minister Cho reaffirmed the US' commitment to cooperation as the optimal partner for a renaissance in advanced technology and manufacturing.
He emphasized that ensuring smooth personnel exchanges, institutional improvements to prevent a recurrence of the Georgia incident, and the introduction of a new visa system are essential to achieving this, and urged the US to take special measures.
Secretary Rubio stated that while this is a bilateral issue, not a trilateral one, considering the friendly alliance between the three countries, they will work closely together to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
The three ministers expressed their hope to continue expanding substantive cooperation in areas such as quantum, nuclear energy, AI, and supply chains, and agreed to actively utilize the ROK-US-Japan secretariat to continue to achieve action-oriented and tangible results, and to continuously monitor this at the ministerial level.
