The foreign ministers of Japan, the United States and South Korea on Thursday voiced "serious concerns" over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs as well as its growing military cooperation with Russia, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
At their meeting in Brussels, the three ministers reaffirmed they will work closely together in tackling issues related to North Korea, which has allegedly engaged in malicious cyber activities to finance its military development, the ministry said.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and his U.S. and South Korean counterparts, Marco Rubio and Cho Tae Yul, met on the sidelines of NATO's two-day ministerial gathering through Friday, where the two Asian nations are taking part as Indo-Pacific partners.
The meeting was their second in-person one since U.S. President Donald Trump's return to the White House in January, demonstrating that their cooperation remains solid even under his "America First" banner. Their previous gathering was held in February in Germany.
On Thursday, they also exchanged views on regional matters, opposing "unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force," the ministry said. The phrase is commonly used to address concerns over China's growing maritime assertiveness in the surrounding waters.
The three confirmed that maintaining their shared principles, such as the rule of law, while strengthening deterrence and response capabilities through concrete collaboration would contribute to the peace and prosperity of the region and the world, the ministry added.
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