IRIA News

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan held a trilateral meeting with South Korean National Security Advisor Cho Tae-Yong and Japanese National Security Advisor Takeo Akiba to discuss the growing threats from North Korea.

During the meeting, the national security advisors of the U.S., Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK) reviewed progress on a wide range of trilateral initiatives, including the Commitment to Consult on regional crises, the sharing of ballistic missile defense data, and collective efforts to respond to North Korea’s use of cryptocurrency to generate revenue for its illicit Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) programs.

According to the White House statement, the officials also discussed the next steps in trilateral cooperation on economic security, including supply chain early warning initiative, and efforts to align three countries’ respective Indo-Pacific Strategies and capacity efforts throughout the region.
 
National Security Advisors Sullivan, Cho, and Akiba also discussed “the deepening partnership between the DPRK and Russia and agreed to work in close coordination to counter its destabilizing effects,” the statement added.

The officials of the U.S., Japan, and the ROK also underscored the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits and highlighted their commitment to “freedom of navigation” and “international law” in the South China Sea and East China Sea.

U.S. National Security Advisor Sullivan welcomed South Korean and Japanese administrations’ support for Ukraine and thanked National Security Advisor Cho and National Security Advisor Akiba for their country’s unwavering commitment to the people of Ukraine.

The White House statement highlighted that National Security Advisor Sullivan “praised the courageous work undertaken by the ROK and Japan to strengthen their bilateral ties, noting that their efforts had allowed our three countries to commence and institutionalize a new era of trilateral partnership that will be a force for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific for years to come.”

This was the fourth trilateral meeting of the Biden-Harris Administration followed by the historic Camp David Summit that launched a new era of trilateral cooperation between the U.S., Japan, and South Korea. During the Camp David meeting U.S. President Biden hosted South Korean President Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida.

Rising Tensions in the Korean Peninsula

Last month, North Korea successfully placed its first spy satellite Malligyong-1 into orbit. Soon after the launch, the U.S., Japan, and South Korea strongly condemned the North Korean satellite launch calling it a “brazen violation” of United Nations resolutions. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said, the satellite launch “raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region and beyond.”

In response to North Korea’s satellite launch, South Korea suspended part of the inter-Korean deal and said that it would enhance surveillance along the North Korean border.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said that the United States aims to turn the region into an advanced base of its forces and nuclear arsenal by sending “nuclear carrier Carl Vinson and the nuclear-powered submarine Santa Fe to the South Korean region.” Kim added that North Korea would “closely monitor and grasp the nature of such maneuvers of the U.S.”, that he claimed are endangering the regional military situation and the security of the DPRK.

In recent months the U.S. has dispatched several aircraft carriers to South Korean ports. South Korean Navy claimed that the visit of U.S. aircraft carriers demonstrates extended deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threat.

South Korean Rear Admiral Kim Ji-hoon said the arrival of the U.S. aircraft carrier demonstrated a “strong combined defense posture and a determined willingness to respond to North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile threats” by the U.S. and South Korean alliance.