Korea-US-Japan Security Meeting "Regularization of Missile Defense and Anti-Submarine Warfare Drills"

Checking the Readiness for Real-Time Sharing of North Korea Missile Information

South Korea, the United States, and Japan held a security meeting (DTT) for the first time in three years and agreed to regularize missile defense exercises and anti-submarine warfare training. This move comes as North Korea poses threats by, among other actions, conducting its first test launch of a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), with South Korea, the U.S., and Japan strengthening their coordinated response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

On the 14th (local time), the three countries held the 13th DTT in Washington D.C., USA, and issued a joint press statement including these agreements. South Korea, the U.S., and Japan plan to enhance security cooperation to deter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats and to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region.

To this end, they agreed to regularize missile defense exercises and anti-submarine warfare training. They will also resume maritime interdiction exercises and anti-piracy operations that had been suspended.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The three countries also reviewed preparations for real-time sharing of North Korean missile warning information, as agreed upon by their leaders. They intend to share missile warning information in real time using existing information systems, including the Trilateral Information Sharing Agreement (TISA).

They plan to strengthen communication and cooperation among defense authorities based on the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA). They reiterated a warning that North Korea must immediately cease destabilizing actions and that if it conducts a nuclear test, it will face strong and resolute responses from the international community.

The U.S. and Japanese representatives expressed support for the South Korean government’s “Bold Initiative,” which aligns with the three countries’ shared commitment to achieving complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The meeting was attended by Heo Tae-geun, Director General for Defense Policy at South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense; Ely Ratner, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs; and Masuda Kazuo, Director of Defense Policy Bureau at Japan’s Ministry of Defense, each serving as the chief representative.

The DTT is an annual security consultative body led by the defense vice ministers of South Korea, the U.S., and Japan. It has been held 12 times since 2008. It was not held in 2021 or last year.