Meeting of Defense Ministers of Korea, the US, and Japan to Discuss North Korea Cooperation

Shangri-La Dialogue Also Hosts South Korea-Japan Defense Ministers Meeting

The trilateral defense ministers' meeting between South Korea, the United States, and Japan will be held at the Asia Security Conference (Shangri-La Dialogue). During this meeting, the three countries are expected to discuss establishing a warning data sharing system regarding North Korean missiles.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 1st, the Ministry of National Defense announced that Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop will attend the 20th Asia Security Conference (Shangri-La Dialogue) held in Singapore from the 2nd to the 4th.

During the conference, Minister Lee plans to hold trilateral defense minister meetings between South Korea and Japan, South Korea and China, and South Korea, the United States, and Japan. The trilateral defense ministers' meeting among South Korea, the United States, and Japan is expected to be the first step in upgrading trilateral security cooperation to a new level, following the agreement made at the G7 summit held last month in Hiroshima, Japan, where the three leaders met and agreed to enhance security cooperation, including sharing information on North Korean missiles.

Currently, South Korea and the United States share warning data in real-time through the Korean Military Operations Control Center (KTMO-CELL) and the U.S. Forces Korea Operations Control Center (TMO-CELL), and the United States and Japan also operate a real-time information sharing system. However, since such a system has not been established between the South Korean military and the Japan Self-Defense Forces, information sharing between South Korea and Japan is conducted through the United States.

A South Korea-Japan defense ministers' meeting will also take place. This is the first meeting in four years since the encounter between Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and Japanese Defense Minister Kono Taro in November 2019.

At this meeting, the 'patrol aircraft conflict,' which has been a major obstacle to expanding defense exchanges between the two countries, is expected to be a key issue.

The South Korea-Japan patrol aircraft conflict was triggered on December 20, 2018, when the ROK Navy's Gwanggaeto the Great-class destroyer, searching for a North Korean fishing boat that had been shipwrecked in the East Sea, was accused by Japan of targeting its Maritime Self-Defense Force P1 patrol aircraft flying near the ship with a fire-control radar. At that time, Japan released a video filmed inside the patrol aircraft as evidence, while South Korea denied any radar targeting and countered that the patrol aircraft flew low in a threatening manner near the Gwanggaeto the Great-class destroyer. The positions of both sides have remained at an impasse, and exchanges between the defense authorities have been suspended as a result.

The South Korea-China defense ministers will meet for the first time in about six months since the 9th ASEAN Plus Defense Ministers' Meeting held last November.

South Korea is expected to clearly state that North Korea's nuclear and missile provocations undermine peace and stability in the region and to urge China to play a constructive role in halting North Korean provocations. However, since China has effectively tolerated North Korea's provocations by opposing additional sanctions against North Korea at the UN Security Council, attention is focused on what stance China will take during the meeting.

Minister Lee will also hold talks with defense ministers from major countries such as Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, and the European Union (EU) to assess the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region and discuss ways to expand bilateral defense cooperation with those countries.

The Shangri-La Dialogue, hosted by the UK’s International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), is a multilateral security conference held annually since 2002 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore. This year, defense ministers, senior officials, and security experts from about 40 countries are participating.