South Korea, U.S. and Japan foreign ministers meet in New York to discuss economy and security

On Monday in New York, South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun joined U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi for a third trilateral session since July, convened alongside the UN General Assembly. The agenda covered a range of economic and security matters, including energy collaboration, possible Arctic cooperation through a memorandum of understanding, and the use of Arctic sea routes.

The ministers revisited commitments made at prior gatherings in Turkey, where they agreed to promote small modular reactors in the Indo-Pacific, and in Manila, where they reaffirmed deterrence against North Korea and peace in the Taiwan Strait. Prior bilateral talks in Washington saw Cho and Rubio discuss South Korea’s investment pledges and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Cho is also slated to meet officials from Iran and other nations during the UN session, while President Lee Jae Myung will address the assembly on Korean Peninsula peace. Other leaders attending include Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, while Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Trump in Washington.