Leaders of U.S, Japan and South Korea on Sunday agreed to take "decisive steps" towards full denuclearization of North Korea amid recent tensions over the series of missile tests in Pyongyang have tightened.
After meeting US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Phnom Penh, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also told reporters that tripartite cooperation becomes more important than ever amid the possibility of further North Korean provocations in.
Leaders agreed to work with the three countries coordinating sanctions on Pyongyang to conduct the seventh nuclear test and the first since 2017, despite international warnings, according to a joint statement. Although they reiterated that North Korea cannot avoid a "strong and determined response from the international community" if another nuclear test is conducted, they also said in the July 7 statement that "the path of dialogue for a peaceful and diplomatic solution." remains open " with Pyongyang.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One that leaders were "coordinating a joint response in the event (the North) conducts a seventh nuclear test and its teams are on the job." commissioned which he laid out for the elements He said, "You can count on a well-coordinated trilateral response between the three countries when that happens." Kishida said he briefed Biden on Japan's plan to "substantially increase" its defense budget and the US President supports the idea.
Trilateral and bilateral meetings have taken place on the fringes of summits involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its partners. Since Kishida, Biden and Yoon last met in late June, when they traveled to Madrid to attend a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit, the Koran of the North has accelerated the pace of missile launches, and in early October, they resumed for the first time in five years launched a missile over the Japanese archipelago. Pyongyang also launched a ICBM earlier this month. Yoon succeeded leftist Moon Jae In in May, with South Korea taking a tougher stance on North Korea and expressing a desire to strengthen defense cooperation with the United States and Japan.
The three countries held an anti-submarine drill for the first time in five years in late September and a joint ballistic missile detection exercise in early October. They reiterated their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, citing the vision strongly promoted by Japan and the United States to counter the rise of China. Without naming China, the three leaders said in the statement that they firmly oppose "any unilateral attempt to change the status quo in Indo-Pacific waters, including through illegal maritime claims, militarization of recovered features and coercive measures" in Taiwan, which Beijing recognizes as a breakaway province and affirmed that maintaining peace and stability around the democratic island is an "indispensable element of security and prosperity in the international community". Tensions around Taiwan remain high."
Chinese President Xi Jinping said last month that mainland China will never give up the right to use force to control the island. Due to China's growing influence, the three nations announced they would start a dialogue on economic security. Regarding the kidnapping of Japanese citizens by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, they reiterated their shared commitment to an immediate solution. two days from Tuesday.