Cho Tae-yeol "Russo-North Korean Military Cooperation Must Stop Immediately... Peace on the Korean Peninsula Is a Shared Interest"

Korea-China-Japan Foreign Ministers' Meeting Held in Tokyo
"Russia-North Korea Military Cooperation Must Be Immediately Halted"

Cho Tae-yul, Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Korea, stated on the 22nd at the Korea-China-Japan Foreign Ministers' Meeting that "maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula is a shared interest and responsibility of the three countries."

Minister Cho said at a joint press conference held after the meeting at the Ikura Guesthouse of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in downtown Tokyo, "We hope that communication among the three countries, which are affected by the North Korean nuclear issue and peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, will continue."

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol (right), Wang Yi, Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Office of the Chinese Communist Party and Foreign Minister (left), and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi met on the 22nd at the Ikura Diplomatic Residence of the Tokyo Ministry of Foreign Affairs and took a commemorative photo ahead of the Korea-China-Japan Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Photo by Yonhap News

He also emphasized, "Russia-North Korea military cooperation must be immediately halted, and North Korea should not be rewarded for its wrongful actions during the Ukraine ceasefire process."

Wang Yi, Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Office of the Communist Party of China (also serving as Foreign Minister), stated, "Against the backdrop of the global economic downturn, the three countries agreed on the need and responsibility to provide more stabilizing factors for regional peace and development through enhanced communication, increased trust, and deepened cooperation."

Director Wang added, "We also agreed to promote regional economic integration," and said, "The three countries will maintain dialogue and communication to resume Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, promote the expansion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and facilitate regional supply chains."

Iwaya, Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, said, "I was the first to express concerns about North Korea’s nuclear missile activities and Russia-North Korea military cooperation," and added, "I conveyed that denuclearization of North Korea is a common goal and that we want to closely communicate, including the full implementation of Security Council resolutions."

He continued, "We reached a consensus to accelerate efforts to hold the Korea-China-Japan summit as early as possible and at an appropriate time."