Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun held a trilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi on Tuesday, July 7, on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Ankara, Türkiye. The Ministers and the Secretary discussed issues related to the Korean Peninsula, security cooperation and regional and global developments, and economic security cooperation.
Minister Cho noted that it was meaningful to hold the first ROK–U.S.–Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the year on the occasion of the NATO Summit. Emphasizing that cooperation among trusted allies has become increasingly important in the face of a wide range of global challenges, he called for further strengthening trilateral cooperation to promote the three countries’ shared security and prosperity. Secretary Rubio and Minister Motegi echoed Minister Cho’s remarks and agreed to continue expanding practical trilateral cooperation for the peace and prosperity of the peoples of the three countries and the broader region.
The Ministers and the Secretary shared their assessments of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and agreed to maintain close coordination on policies towards the DPRK policies, including efforts to counter DPRK’s illicit cyber activities. While upholding the principle of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the Ministers and the Secretary agreed to continue their efforts to maintain peace and stability on the Peninsula through dialogue and diplomacy.
The Ministers and the Secretary also recognized that closer trilateral security cooperation and coordination on global issues have become increasingly important for maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and the broader international community. They agreed to identify concrete and tangible ways to cooperate in such fields as combating transnational crime, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance, and Arctic affairs. In addition, the Ministers and the Secretary exchanged views on regional and global developments, including those in Northeast Asia and the Middle East. They underscored, with one voice, the importance of maintaining regional peace and stability and agreed to continue close coordination and to make necessary contributions toward that end.
The Ministers and the Secretary further reaffirmed that economic security cooperation constitutes a key pillar of trilateral cooperation. Building on the progress already achieved in such areas as nuclear energy, artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum technologies, they agreed to further deepen practical cooperation. They also reaffirmed the importance of trilateral cooperation to strengthen supply chain resilience and to counter economic coercion. The Ministers and the Secretary welcomed the signing of the ROK–U.S.–Japan Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on small modular reactor (SMR) cooperation on the sidelines of the meeting, expressing hope that it would establish a foundation for cooperation among companies from the three countries, which play a central role in the global nuclear power supply chain.
* ROK–U.S.–Japan Memorandum of Cooperation on small modular reactor cooperation
- Scope: Support for projects involving the construction of multiple SMRs through standardized reactor designs (fleet deployment) and streamlined contracting procedures.
- Areas of Cooperation: Formation of trilateral business consortia; support for project financing and capacity building in recipient countries; and cooperation in technology, fuel, equipment, and related services.
The Ministers and the Secretary agreed to meet as frequently as possible and maintain close communication. They also committed to continuing efforts to deliver concrete outcomes across various areas of trilateral cooperation, and to encouraging the ROK-U.S.-Japan Trilateral Coordinating Secretariat to carry out its role to this end.