Cho vows to serve as 'pacemaker' for resuming North Korea-US talks
Ministers agree to deepen cooperation on critical minerals, SMRs and AI; working group to be set up for Arctic collaboration
The foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States and Japan met in Atlanta on Friday (local time) to reaffirm a robust deterrence posture against North Korea while urging Pyongyang to join efforts toward dialogue. The three ministers confirmed cooperation on economic security — including supply chains, small modular reactors and AI — and signed a memorandum of cooperation on trilateral Arctic collaboration aimed at maritime safety and regional economic cooperation.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun held the trilateral meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on the sidelines of the 2026 G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Atlanta. The gathering came roughly a month after the high-level week of the UN General Assembly in September and marked the fourth trilateral foreign ministers' meeting in the past four months.
Cho said close trilateral consultations had continued at all levels — at headquarters and at diplomatic missions around the world — over the past four months, and assessed that cooperation among the three countries was making tangible progress across a wide range of areas. The ministers also reviewed coordination on shared challenges, including economic security, ahead of year-end summits such as APEC and the G20. Rubio and Motegi expressed agreement and pledged to sustain the momentum of cooperation.
On the Korean Peninsula situation, the three ministers urged North Korea to join efforts toward tension reduction and the establishment of lasting peace. They agreed to maintain a firm deterrence posture through close coordination while pursuing denuclearization through dialogue and diplomacy. Cho made clear that South Korea would fulfill its role and responsibility as a "pacemaker" in building a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula and resuming North Korea-US talks, in close coordination with the United States.
The ministers also held in-depth discussions on global security and economic security issues. They agreed to share assessments of major regional and global developments — "including attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo" — and to strengthen coordination. They also agreed to encourage working-level discussions on countering transnational crime, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.
On economic security, the ministers shared concerns over the global energy crisis and supply chain vulnerabilities, and agreed to continue cooperation on diversifying critical mineral supply chains, SMRs, AI and other critical and emerging technologies.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the three ministers formally signed the Memorandum of Cooperation on Korea-US-Japan Arctic Collaboration. Building on the pact, the three countries plan to deepen maritime safety, emergency response and economic cooperation in the Arctic-Pacific region, with details to be worked out through the Arctic Council and a newly established working group.
Cho also held a separate meeting with Rubio on the sidelines, discussing the full range of bilateral issues including the state of the South Korea-US relationship, high-level exchanges and visa matters.
sunpine@heraldcorp.com
