November 12, 2023
Ministry of Defense
Minister of Defense Kihara Minoru, United States (U.S.) Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, and Republic of Korea (ROK) Minister of National Defense Shin Wonsik convened a Trilateral Ministerial Meeting of the tele-conference on November 12, 2023. During the meeting, they shared recognition on the regional situations and discussed trilateral cooperation including the review of implementation of trilateral security cooperation lines of effort confirmed at the historic Camp David Summit in August 2023.
The three leaders shared recognition on the regional situations including growing nuclear and missile threats from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). They strongly condemned DPRK’s launch of ballistic missile with unprecedented frequency, and reiterated that launch using ballistic missile technology for the purpose of satellite launch constitutes a serious violation of relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. They discussed efforts to address common security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region including these kinds of challenges.
The three leaders stressed the importance of the rule of law and expressed strong opposition to any unilateral actions that seek to alter the status quo by force or coercion and increase tensions in the region. They reaffirmed their commitment to stand with Ukraine against Russia’s unprovoked and brutal war of aggression and to recognize that Russia’s actions are a serious violation of territorial integrity and sovereignty which undermines the fabric of the entire international order. They emphasized the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as indispensable to security and prosperity in the international community. The three leaders shared concerns on activities that are inconsistent with international law, in particular the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and stressed the importance of fully respecting international law, including freedom of navigation and overflight and other lawful uses of the sea.
The three leaders reaffirmed that they are standing in the final stages following favorable progress of coordination towards operationalization of the data sharing mechanism to exchange real-time missile warning data of DPRK by the end of this year in order to improve each country’s ability to detect and assess missiles launched by DPRK in line with those Joint Statements of Phnom Penh in November 2022 and Camp David in August 2023. The three leaders concurred to verify and further accelerate the trilateral coordination in order to operationalize the mechanism by the end of this year.
The three leaders encouraged accelerated development of a multi-year trilateral exercise plan by the end of this year, which is currently being formulated, in order to conduct trilateral exercises more systematically. They noted the fruition of a trilateral aerial exercise held in October 2023 between the three countries as well as the steady progress of trilateral exercises. In addition, they emphasized the importance of continuing these activities to demonstrate the three countries’ strong will and capability to respond to threats in the Indo-Pacific.
The U.S. reaffirmed its steadfast alliance commitments to Japan and the ROK backed by the full range of U.S. capabilities, including nuclear. Japan and the ROK highlighted the importance of their bilateral ties in addition to trilateral cooperation to protect and advance their shared security goals. The three leaders committed to continued working closely together to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and around the world.
Japan-United States-Republic of Korea Trilateral Ministerial Meeting (PDF)