Chiefs of Defense of Japan, U.S., ROK Meet in Japan for First Time; Condemn Russia-DPRK Military Cooperation

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:03 JST, July 19, 2024

The top uniformed defense officials of Japan, the United States and South Korea pledged to maintain their close relationship and enhance trilateral security cooperation in a joint statement released Thursday.

Chief of Staff of Japan’s Joint Staff Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida; U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Brown; and South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo convened Thursday at the Defense Ministry building in Tokyo to exchange views on the regional security situation, including on the Korean Peninsula, and discuss specific measures to deepen cooperation. It was the first time that top defense officials of the three countries had met in Japan.

In the statement, the three parties condemned the growing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, which took place in violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, including the prohibition on procurement and use of North Korea’s ballistic missiles.

The defense chiefs also expressed opposition to China’s attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force in the South China Sea and elsewhere. The chiefs called for “the peaceful resolution” of cross-Taiwan Strait issues.

Commanders from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, as well as the U.S. forces in Japan and South Korea, were present at the meeting, too.

In June, Japanese and South Korean defense authorities agreed to prevent the recurrence of an earlier incident in which a South Korean Navy ship directed its fire-control radar at a patrol aircraft belonging to Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force. Prior to the tripartite meeting, Yoshida met with Kim alone Wednesday, marking the first meeting of chief of staff-level officials from the two countries in eight years.

Yoshida said it was “a memorable first step toward bringing Japan-South Korea defense cooperation to new heights.”

Another trilateral chiefs of defense meeting will be held next year in South Korea.