South Korea, US, and Japan Defense Ministers Meet Again After One Year

Opening of Singapore Shangri-La Dialogue from Today
First Step in Trilateral US-ROK-Japan North Korea Missile Intelligence Sharing

The Asia Security Conference, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, which is attended by key security chiefs from major countries in the Asia-Pacific region, will open on the 2nd (local time) in Singapore. The defense ministers of South Korea, the United States, and Japan will meet again after a year, and concrete discussions are expected on establishing a warning data sharing system regarding North Korean missiles.

According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 2nd, Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop will attend the 20th Asia Security Conference (Shangri-La Dialogue) held in Singapore from the 2nd to the 4th and hold a series of meetings with defense chiefs from the United States, China, Japan, and others.

The "main event" is expected to be the trilateral meeting of the defense ministers of South Korea, the United States, and Japan. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Japanese Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu (浜田靖一) are expected to focus on implementing real-time sharing of missile warning data, as North Korea continues military provocations such as launching its claimed military reconnaissance satellite No. 1.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The leaders of South Korea, the United States, and Japan agreed last November at the summit held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to share North Korean missile warning data in real time, and this meeting is expected to be the first step toward that goal. Earlier, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio agreed to strengthen security cooperation during their trilateral summit held on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, last month.

The defense ministers of South Korea and Japan will also hold a meeting. This bilateral meeting between the defense ministers of South Korea and Japan is the first in about four years since the meeting between Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and Japanese Defense Minister Kono Taro in November 2019. Attention is focused on whether the "patrol aircraft conflict," the biggest obstacle to expanding defense exchanges between South Korea and Japan, will be discussed at this meeting.

Given the recent strained relations between South Korea and China, expectations for concrete outcomes from the South Korea-China defense ministers' meeting are low. South Korea is expected to urge China to play a role in responding to North Korean provocations, but it is uncertain whether China will respond positively.

Although a South Korea-U.S. defense ministers' meeting is not scheduled during the Shangri-La Dialogue, there is a considerable possibility of a surprise meeting between the two defense ministers. A Ministry of National Defense official said, "Since recent issues between South Korea and the U.S. have been sufficiently discussed, a South Korea-U.S. defense ministers' meeting is not planned," but added, "Because the two ministers have a close relationship, an unscheduled meeting could happen."

Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop also plans to hold meetings 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.