Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
Top diplomats of allies to meet next week
By Yi Whan-woo
The top diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan will jointly hold talks on Sept. 29 in New York on the sidelines of 70th U.N. General Assembly, the Ministry Foreign Affairs said, Tuesday.
It said Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida to discuss North Korea’s military threats and other security issues on the Korean Peninsula.
The meeting will take place amid a growing need for South Korea to bolster a trilateral security alliance with the U.S. and Japan in the wake of Tokyo’s approval of new security laws.
This is the first time that Yun and his two counterparts will meet after the Japanese Diet passed a set of 11 security bills Saturday to allow its military to fight abroad for the first time since World War II.
The legislation is aimed at consolidating the U.S.-Japan security alliance against China’s growing military assertiveness and North Korea’s cycle of provocations.
However, it raised concerns that Japan, backed by the U.S., may revert to militarism and that its Self-Defense Forces may forcibly enter the Korean Peninsula without South Korea’s approval in the event of a war.
Seoul has faced calls from experts to bolster the trilateral alliance among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo to prevent such a thing from happening.
The three-way talks will also take place ahead of the Seoul-Washington summit on Oct. 16 during President Park Geun-hye’s visit to the U.S.
Park and U.S. President Barack Obama are expected to share their thoughts on how to promote peace in East Asia when they meet.
Following the inter-Korean agreement on Aug. 25, the three diplomats are expected to discuss how to deter Pyongyang’s military threats, and how to bolster Seoul-Washington-Tokyo cooperation to promote peace and stability on the peninsula.
The Aug. 25 deal was aimed at defusing military tensions and speeding up Seoul-Pyongyang dialogue.
The annual U.N. General Assembly began on Sept. 15. Heads of state, including President Park, are scheduled to attend the Sustainable Development Summit from Sept. 25 to 27.