Defence chiefs from the US, South Korea and Japan agreed to begin in December, sharing real-time data on North Korean missiles, South Korea’s defence ministry reports.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin met with his South Korean counterpart Shin Won-sik in Seoul on Sunday, joined online by Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara. State representatives at the meeting discussed strengthening trilateral co-operation amid a “complex security environment”, Kihara told reporters. He emphasised that this was the first such meeting of the three ministers. He added:
“We confirmed that we are steadily making adjustments, bringing the process to the final stage.”
South Korean President Yun Suk-yeol on Sunday urged South Korea and the United States to maintain military readiness in case of “any provocation” by North Korea, including a Hamas-style surprise attack.
South Korea’s Defence Ministry said in a statement that the “real-time information-sharing mechanism” would “aim to enhance each country’s ability to detect and assess North Korean missiles”, Seoul’s official Yonhap news agency reported.
The announcement comes about three months after President Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yol held a summit at the White House to unveil a new agreement designed to deter North Korea from launching a nuclear attack.
The agreement, dubbed the “Washington Declaration,” called for the deployment of a US nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea for the first time in nearly 40 years. In addition, the US pledged to establish a nuclear advisory group with South Korea to enhance intelligence and information sharing on US nuclear and strategic weapons plans in the region.
General Charles K. Brown, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, held talks with his South Korean counterpart in Seoul on Sunday, the South Korean military said.
In his first visit to South Korea since taking office in October this year, the top US general discussed North Korea’s “persistent provocations,” including missile launches, and reaffirmed the US commitment to defending South Korea, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
At the summit on 18 August, US President Joe Biden agreed with Yun and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that the three countries would share real-time missile warning data on North Korea by the end of this year.
