South Korea, US, Japan military chiefs vow peace in Indo-Pacific

At a teleconference Thursday, the top military commanders of South Korea, the US and Japan said they would work for peace in the Indo-Pacific region as they continue addressing security concerns there and expanding their cooperation, Seoul’s Ministry of National Defense said.

Gen. Won In-choul, chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, highlighted coordination among the three countries on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and establishing permanent peace here.

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, reaffirmed commitments to providing extended deterrence to allies South Korea and Japan. The defense strategy involves the US nuclear umbrella and strategic assets.

A month earlier, the top US commander spoke with Gen. Won on the defense commitments to South Korea against a nuclear-armed North Korea at an annual military committee meeting held online.

Gen. Koji Yamazaki, the Chief of Staff of Japan’s Joint Staff for Self-Defense Forces, stressed cooperation among the three countries on realizing peace and stability in the region, and compliance with a UN resolution condemning North Korea’s human rights abuses.

The US is seen as attempting to give security assurances to its allies, which increasingly view the US as in a leadership vacuum, with President Donald Trump refusing to concede to President-elect Joe Biden.

The teleconference was also attended by US Forces Korea Commander Gen. Robert Abrams, US Forces Japan Commander Gen. Kevin B. Schneider and US Indo-Pacific Commander Adm. Philip Scot Davidson.

By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)