South Korea to hold trilateral vice ministerial meeting with US, Japan

• 

Senior South Korean, Japanese, and US diplomats will hold a trilateral meeting on February 13 to discuss security on the Korean peninsula and the Indo-Pacific region and to enhance cooperation, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyundong, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Mori Takeo and US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will be meeting in Washington and are expected to strengthen trilateral security cooperation to address "the escalating threat from North Korea" and to discuss other regional and global issues, the ministry's statement read.

Separate talks are also scheduled between Cho and his counterparts, the statement added.

One of the main topics on the agenda will be the compensation for forced labor victims during the Japanese rule over the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945, which has been a source of tension between Seoul and Tokyo. The two countries have already held rounds of talks to solve the problem.

The US, South Korea, and Japan have significantly boosted their cooperation to address the tensions over North Korea’s missile test launches and other activities.

Read: 'Vigilant Storm'; largest US-S.Korea military drill yet against DPRK

In a joint statement issued by the countries' defense chiefs by the end of January, South Korea and the United States have agreed to increase the level and scale of their joint exercises this year.
 
South Korean Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met on Tuesday for the first time this year in Seoul. The countries will commemorate the 70th anniversary of their alliance in 2023.
 
The joint statement released by the Pentagon read that "the two leaders also pledged to further expand and bolster the level and scale of this year's combined exercises and training."

In September, Japan, the United States, and South Korea conducted trilateral anti-submarine defense exercises in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, in compliance with the agreements agreed upon at a trilateral ministerial conference on June 11. The drills were designed to demonstrate commitment to furthering trilateral cooperation "to respond to regional security challenges," according to the Japanese Defense Ministry.

Read: US B-1B bomber to join S. Korea joint air drills: official

The previous joint trilateral exercises in the Sea of Japan took place in December 2017.

In October, in reaction to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) launching of an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile over Japan on Tuesday, South Korean and US fighter jets conducted precision bombing drills, according to Seoul's military.

In November, the United States, Japan, and South Korea vowed a "strong and resolute response" if North Korea carried out a nuclear test.

US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol issued a joint statement condemning DPRK's recent barrage, which included an intercontinental ballistic missile.

North Korea conducted dozens of missile tests in 2022, sometimes firing multiple missiles at once. It launched more than 20 short-range missiles on November 2. North Korea's military activities, according to Pyongyang, are in response to provocations by the United States, South Korea, and Japan.