South Korea, US seek enhanced trilateral cooperation with Japan

WASHINGTON -- Seoul and Washington will seek to promote enhanced trilateral cooperation with Japan, and work together on regional security and global issues at the trilateral summit meeting set for July 6.

South Korea and the US had confirmed earlier that President Moon Jae-in, US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany on July 6.

In the joint statement released following the South Korea-US summit on Friday, Seoul and Washington said that they will step up established bilateral and trilateral ties to address a range of issues including North Korea.

“The two leaders affirmed that trilateral security and defense cooperation contributes to enhanced deterrence and defense against the North Korean threat,” the joint statement said.

The statement goes onto say that the South Korean and US leaders agreed on the importance of addressing global issues through the trilateral relationship.

Issues listed in the statement include cancer research, energy security, women’s empowerment, and cybersecurity.

By Choi He-suk
Korea Herald correspondent
(cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)