South Korea, US and Japan Renew Denuclearization and Dialogue Push
The three countries’ top diplomats reaffirmed their goal of North Korea’s complete denuclearization while keeping the door open to talks and expanding cooperation on regional security, supply chains and advanced technology.
South Korea, the United States and Japan have reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea while urging Pyongyang to return to dialogue, combining a firm security message with an explicit opening for diplomacy.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week. In a joint statement after the talks, the three governments said they remained committed to preventing support for revenue generation tied to North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
The ministers also said the path to dialogue remained open and called on North Korea to resume talks. At the same time, Washington reiterated what the statement described as its ironclad defense commitments to South Korea and Japan, including the backing of US nuclear capabilities. The three diplomats welcomed the work of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, which was established in 2024 to track North Korean sanctions violations and evasion.
The meeting ranged beyond the Korean Peninsula. The ministers supported a peaceful resolution of issues across the Taiwan Strait and opposed unilateral attempts to change the status quo. They also emphasized freedom of navigation and lawful commerce, placing the peninsula policy within a broader effort to coordinate positions on Indo-Pacific security.
Economic security formed another major part of the agenda. The three sides pledged to strengthen their supply-chain early-warning system and welcomed a new consultation mechanism focused on economic security. They also opposed economic coercion, market-distorting overcapacity and arbitrary export restrictions that disrupt supply chains. Their statement called for closer cooperation on energy resilience, including oil stockpiles and coordination between producing and consuming countries.
The diplomats further agreed to advance implementation of a July trilateral memorandum aimed at supporting small modular reactor projects in third countries under nuclear safety, security and nonproliferation standards. They also identified artificial intelligence, quantum technology, digital infrastructure and biotechnology as areas where the three governments intend to reinforce technology networks and protect critical capabilities.
The breadth of the statement shows that trilateral coordination is becoming a platform not only for responding to North Korea but also for managing economic and technological risks. For Seoul, the meeting reaffirmed deterrence and sanctions enforcement while preserving dialogue as the stated route toward reducing tensions on the peninsula.