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Senior diplomats from South Korea, the US and Japan met in Honolulu, Hawaii, on July 14 and promised to strengthen trilateral cooperation. It was the fourth such deliberation between deputy minister-level diplomats from the three countries.

While the three countries agreed on the need to respond to North Korean nuclear weapons and to deploy the THAAD missile defense system with US forces in South Korea, there were some subtle differences in their position on how to resolve conflict in the South China Sea.

US Vice President Joe Biden, who attended the meeting as a stop on his way to Australia, remarked that the three countries share fundamental values and a vision for the future of the Asia-Pacific region. He also said that the US was strongly committed to its policy of the Asia-Pacific rebalance and that it would strengthen its alliances with South Korea and with Japan, which provide an important foundation for this policy.

The meeting brought together South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam, US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama. In a joint press conference following the meeting, Lim said North Korea’s nuclear program had been one of the key items on the agenda. The three diplomats promised to increase trilateral cooperation aimed at denuclearizing North Korea and to work together to continue their faithful implementation of UN Security Council resolutions.

In regard to deploying THAAD on the Korean Peninsula, Blinken reiterated that THAAD is “not aimed at a third country” like China.

But Lim did not mention THAAD during his introductory remarks in the press conference, perhaps out of concern about a possible backlash from the Chinese government.

On the topic of the conflict in the South China Sea, the gap between the US and Japan on the one hand and South Korea on the other was evident once again.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry stated that the Japanese and American diplomats - Blinken and Sugiyama – had confirmed their agreement on maritime security issues, including the South China Sea and the final ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in a dispute between the Philippines and China.

During the press conference, Blinken mentioned the importance of urging all members of the international community to obey the law, which can be seen as an indirect request for the South Korean government to join with the US in putting pressure on China.

But Lim only expressed the hope that the issue of the South China Sea would be peacefully resolved through diplomatic effort, without expressing support for the court’s ruling.

By Lee Je-hun, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]