The defense chiefs of Japan, the US and South Korea on Thursday discussed the North Korean situation and the strengthening of the trilateral defense cooperation, Japan’s Defense Ministry said.
During their telephone conversation, Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup strongly condemned North Korea’s missile provocations, including the launch of a military reconnaissance satellite on Aug. 24 and the firing of ballistic missiles on Aug. 30, which violate UN Security Council resolutions banning any launch using ballistic missile technology, the ministry said in press release.
Hamada, Austin and Lee also discussed North Korea’s actions as threatening the peace and security of the region and the international community.
In addition, with regard to real-time sharing of missile warning data on North Korea, the defense chiefs underscored ongoing efforts to further accelerate operationalizing the trilateral mechanism initially and to fully activate the mechanism by the end of 2023, as pledged at the Shangri-La Dialogue in June.
The three also affirmed that they will build and implement a multi-year exercise plan toward regularizing trilateral exercises, and discussed annual and multi-domain trilateral exercises in addition to enhancement of trilateral coordination of activities to address regional security challenges.
Furthermore, they confirmed the importance of Japan-US-S. Korea trilateral defense cooperation, and agreed to work together more closely, based on the outcomes of the latest trilateral summit meeting, the ministry said.
Source: Kuwait News Agency