Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Defense officials from Japan, the United States and South Korea (ROK) met in Washington on Friday to discuss defense and security issues in the region, and the United States reiterated its “ironclad commitment” to defend Japan and South Korea “backed by the full range of defensive capabilities –including nuclear.”

 

U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner, Japan Director General for Defense Policy MASUDA Kazuo, and South Korea’s Deputy Minister for National Defense Policy Heo Tae-keun convened the 13th Defense Trilateral Talks to exchange assessments of the security environment on the Korean Peninsula and in the region.

 

The three representatives said the discussions greatly contributed to U.S.-Japan-ROK security cooperation. 

 

They confirmed that each side would remain vigilant and enhance trilateral security cooperation to deter nuclear and missile threats from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) and to strengthen peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region.

 

They condemned in the strongest terms the DPRK’s repeated violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions, including its continuous nuclear and missile provocations and illicit ship-to-ship transfers. They urged the DPRK to stop all destabilizing activities immediately and return to negotiations. 

 

The participants also reiterated their shared commitment to the rules-based international order and emphasized the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. 

 

They also reaffirmed the need to stand with Ukraine against Russia’s “unprovoked and brutal war of aggression.”

 

The three sides also discussed the regularization of missile defense exercises and anti-submarine exercises to deter and respond to DPRK’s nuclear and missile threats.