U.S., Japan, South Korea defense chiefs to meet in November

October 2, 2019

Washington--The defense ministers of the United States, Japan and South Korea will meet in Thailand in November on the occasion of a gathering of defense chiefs of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states and other countries, a U.S. Department of Defense official said Tuesday.

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Randall Schriver unveiled the planned trilateral meeting in a speech in Washington.

The three ministers are expected to confirm the importance of maintaining their countries' cooperation in the field of security amid a prolonged standoff between Japan and South Korea over wartime labor and other issues.

Schriver warned that the rift between the two East Asian countries will only benefit China, Russia and North Korea.

Citing South Korea's recent decision to scrap its General Security of Military Information Agreement, or GSOMIA, with Japan, he said that the political tensions are "spilling into the security trilateral work in an unhelpful way."

On the other hand, he noted that the two countries share many values, such as respect for a rules-based international order and human rights, and expressed Washington's readiness to play an active role as a mediator.

"I don't know where rock-bottom is or how much time it can take," he said. "But I do see so much that pull us together."

Meanwhile, the top uniformed officers of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, and the U.S. and South Korean militaries held a meeting at the U.S. Department of Defense on Tuesday.

Gen. Koji Yamazaki, chief of staff at the SDF's Joint Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and Gen. Park Han-ki, chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff are believed to have discussed collaboration among the three countries. Jiji Press