By Yi Whan-woo
The No. 2 diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan and their top nuclear envoys met in Seoul, Wednesday, to discuss bolstering their alliance against North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats.
The three-way dialogue among Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan and Japanese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Shinsuke Sugiyama took place ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to Asia next month.
They were accompanied by top nuclear negotiators ― Korea’s Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Joseph Yun and Japan’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Director General Kenji Kanasugi.
Their talks came amid speculation the Kim Jong-un regime may conduct a ballistic missile test on the occasion of Trump’s five-nation visit to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines in November.
“We shared our assessments of the current situation and reaffirmed our push for a complete dismantlement of the North Korea’s nuclear program through peaceful methods,” Lim said during a joint press conference.
“We also agreed to make all possible diplomatic efforts, including sanctions and dialogue, through close coordination among the three countries.”
“In particular, the three countries held the same view that it is essential to stably manage the situation on the peninsula, while at the same time keeping pressure on the North to resolve its nuclear problem,” he said.
Sullivan said the Trump administration’s goal is to press the Kim regime to return to the negotiating table “unconditionally.”
Prior to the joint high-level talks, Lim and Sullivan separately held a strategic dialogue and coordinated details for Trump’s state visit to South Korea, slated for Nov. 7 and 8.
This was the first strategic dialogue between the No. 2 diplomats of Seoul and Washington since June 2014.
“Trump’s South Korea trip was on the top of the agenda while the two sides also discussed diplomatic methods for dealing with North Korea,” a foreign ministry official said.
Sullivan said he found the meeting with Lim “very productive.”
Lim held one-on-one talks with Sugiyama, too.
Although their talks were mostly about Pyongyang’s nuclear program, they also shared thoughts on historical conflicts centering on Seoul and Tokyo, such as wartime sexual slavery of Koreans during Japan’s 1910-45 occupation of the peninsula.
Sugiyama said he “clearly conveyed” his government’s view to faithfully carry out the accord reached between the two sides in December 2015 over former Korean sex slaves.
The Moon Jae-in administration has been against implementing the accord, claiming that the deal was hastily made under former President Park Geun-hye.
Meanwhile, the three top nuclear envoys agreed to continue working closely to better support each other’s North Korea policies.
“It’s rare for Seoul, Washington and Tokyo to hold talks among their No. 2 diplomats on one hand and top nuclear representatives on the other on the same day,” a foreign ministry official said. “This shows the three sides are keeping up cooperation on North Korea.”
Pyongyang tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile Sept. 14, but has not made any provocations since then.
The South Korean military, however, said it has detected suspicious activities at missile test sites in the North, fueling speculation the repressive state may resume its provocations soon.
Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said during her meeting with Sullivan that she hopes the Trump administration will promptly finalize its decision for the new U.S. ambassador to South Korea.
The post has remained empty since Mark Lippert, a political appointee under the Barack Obama administration, returned to the U.S. in January.
Mark Knapper, charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy here, has been serving as acting ambassador since then.