Overview

• Senior vice foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States and Japan convened in Tokyo on July 18 to bolster trilateral cooperation and reaffirm strong deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
• The meeting delivered a commitment to establish a standing trilateral secretariat to oversee regular ministerial dialogues and convert shared strategies into tangible security, economic and technology outcomes.
• The three sides pledged to enhance economic security by strengthening cooperation in critical minerals, resilient supply chains and artificial intelligence applications.
• South Korea’s Park Yoon-joo held separate discussions with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau focusing on ongoing tariff negotiations and securing mutually advantageous solutions.
• In talks with Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi, Park emphasized building a mature bilateral relationship based on mutual respect and agreed to explore concrete collaborative initiatives on regional challenges.