
Military chiefs of S. Korea, US vow to strengthen trilateral security cooperation with Japan
The top military officers of South Korea and the United States vowed to further strengthen the allies' trilateral security cooperation with Japan during their first video talks earlier this week, the South's military said Wednesday.
Adm. Kim Myung-soo, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his US counterpart, Gen. John Daniel Caine, held the talks Tuesday, which marked the first between the two sides since Caine took office last month.
"Through the South Korea-US-Japan Trilateral Chief of Defense meeting set to take place in South Korea in July, (the two sides) agreed to further strengthen the momentum of trilateral security cooperation," the JCS said in a release.
The three countries have recently ramped up trilateral security cooperation through joint military drills amid growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.
Kim and Caine also stressed the importance of establishing the capabilities and posture to effectively respond to advancing North Korean threats in line with Pyongyang's expanding cooperation with Moscow, according to the JCS.
North Korea is suspected to have received military technology assistance from Russia in return for deploying troops in support of Moscow's war against Ukraine. (Yonhap)

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Korea Herald
4 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Russia's security chief meets Kim Jong-un to discuss Ukraine, peninsula issues
Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang for discussions on Ukraine and security issues involving the Korean Peninsula, the Russian Embassy in North Korea said Wednesday. In a Facebook post, the embassy said the two sides discussed cooperation in various fields and exchanged views on the situation surrounding the Ukrainian crisis and the Korean Peninsula. Shoigu departed for home later in the day, it added. Russia's Ria Novosti also reported on Shoigu's meeting with Kim, citing the embassy's social media post. The Russian news agency Tass reported earlier that Shoigu traveled to the North on instructions from President Vladimir Putin. The visit came amid speculation that Kim may visit Russia for a summit with Putin to mark the first anniversary of their signing of a mutual defense treaty in June last year, which led to North Korea's deployment of thousands of troops on the Russian side in the war against Ukraine. Citing Russia's Security Council, Tass said that Kim and Shoigu are expected to discuss the implementation of the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty and the commemoration of North Korean forces who fought in the Russia-Ukraine war. The agenda may also include international issues, such as those involving Ukraine, it said. Shoigu's visit came less than three months after he traveled to North Korea to meet the North's leader to discuss cooperation between the two nations. His trip also came just a week after North Korea's State Security Minister Ri Chang-dae held a meeting with him in Moscow on the occasion of an international meeting of high-level security officials. During that meeting, Ri and Shoigu reportedly discussed issues related to North Korea's deployment of troops to support Russia in the war against Ukraine. Amid stringent international sanctions, North Korea has turned to Russia for resources and cooperation and is believed to have received rare defense technologies to advance its nuclear and missile arsenals in exchange for troop deployment and arms supplies. (Yonhap)


Korea Herald
4 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Trump says deal with Xi 'extremely hard' as steel tariffs double
Donald Trump said on Wednesday that it was "extremely hard" to reach a deal with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but the EU touted progress in its own trade talks with Washington even though the US president doubled global metal tariffs. Trump's latest trade moves came as ministers from Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries gathered in Paris to discuss the outlook for the world economy in light of a US hardball approach that has rattled world markets. Trump's sweeping tariffs on allies and adversaries have strained ties with trading partners and sparked a flurry of negotiations to avoid the duties. The White House has suggested the president will speak to Xi this week, raising hopes they can soothe tensions and speed up a trade deal between the world's two biggest economies. However, early on Wednesday, Trump appeared to dampen hopes for a quick deal. "I like President XI of China, always have, and always will, but he is VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!" he posted on his Truth Social platform. Asked about the remarks during a regular press briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said: "The Chinese side's principles and stance on developing Sino-US relations are consistent." China was the main target of Trump's April tariff blitz, hit with levies of 145 percent on its goods and triggering tit-for-tat tariffs of 125 percent on US imports. Both sides agreed to temporarily de-escalate in May, after Trump delayed most sweeping measures on other countries until July 9. His latest remarks came hours after he increased his tariffs on aluminum and steel from 25 percent to 50 percent, raising temperatures with various partners while exempting Britain from the higher levy. EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said after talks with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of the OECD meeting in Paris that raising the metal tariffs "doesn't help the negotiations". The two sides were nonetheless "making progress" in their negotiations, Sefcovic said at a news conference. Goods from the 27-nation bloc will be hit with 50-percent tariffs on July 9 unless it reaches a deal with Washington. The EU has vowed to retaliate. "We did very much focus on these negotiations, and I still believe in them," Sefcovic said, adding that he was optimistic that a "positive result" could be reached. The US-EU meeting took place a day after the OECD cut its forecast for global economic growth, blaming Trump's tariff blitz for the downgrade. "We need to come up with negotiated solutions as quickly as possible, because time is running out," German economy minister Katherina Reiche warned. French trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin said: "We have to keep our cool and always show that the introduction of these tariffs is in no one's interest." After talks between UK Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and Greer on Tuesday, London said that imports from the UK would remain at 25 percent for now. Both sides needed to work out duties and quotas in line with the terms of a recently signed trade pact. "We're pleased that as a result of our agreement with the US, UK steel will not be subject to these additional tariffs," a British government spokesperson said. The Group of Seven advanced economies -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- was due to hold separate trade talks on Wednesday. Mexico will request an exemption from the higher tariff, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said, arguing that it was unfair because the United States exports more steel to its southern neighbour than it imports. "It makes no sense to put a tariff on a product in which you have a surplus," Ebrard said. Mexico is highly vulnerable to Trump's trade wars because 80 percent of its exports go to the United States, its main partner. While some of Trump's most sweeping levies face legal challenges, they have been allowed to remain in place for now as an appeals process takes place. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Tuesday that the Trump administration sent letters to governments pushing for offers by Wednesday as the July 9 deadline approached. (AFP)


Korea Herald
10 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Foreign policy and security tasks pile up: What awaits President Lee?
South Korea's newly elected president, Lee Jae-myung, takes office facing a mountain of foreign and security challenges — most notably, an unprecedented squeeze from Washington, where President Donald Trump's protectionist 'America First' agenda is leading to tariffs and testing the resilience of US alliances. Lee confronts not only the persistent and existential threat from North Korea — with inter-Korean relations at rock bottom — but also the imperative to recalibrate the country's diplomatic trajectory amid an intensifying US-China rivalry and an increasingly fluid global order. But these are far from the only challenges on Lee's plate. Tariff battles Front and center for the Lee administration are high-stakes tariff negotiations with the Trump administration, as sweeping US tariffs are already reshaping South Korea's exports and raising further uncertainty about the future of South Korea's economy. 'The number one priority, of course, is to have an initial meeting with the (US) President," Victor Cha, Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Wednesday, underscoring the importance of leader-to-leader diplomacy in tariff negotiations. "We've been in a period for six months where the Trump administration has been moving at 100 miles an hour, while South Korea has basically been stuck in neutral because it hasn't had a government. So making that first contact is very important.' Lee also said that tariff negotiations 'would become the most pressing issue we face right now,' alongside restoring people's livelihoods and reviving the economy amid slowing growth, in an interview with local radio broadcaster CBS on Monday — the final day of campaigning. Sectoral tariffs on cars and auto parts have taken effect, with new levies on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals looming. Aluminum and steel tariffs will double to 50 percent this week. All of these sectors are among South Korea's key export industries, accounting for a significant share of exports to the US. Meanwhile, 25 percent country-specific reciprocal tariffs on Korean goods remain under a moratorium until July 9. Korea pressed for bigger security share Ramon Pacheco Pardo, professor of international relations at King's College London, forecast that 'a big bundle of issues' would be part of tariff negotiations and that 'security will be part of the discussion as well.' 'South Korea will try to have other issues thrown into the mix that go far beyond tariffs and economic matters." This broader agenda comes amid growing concerns over defense commitments. On the security front, the Trump administration has called for allies to shoulder more of the defense burden — both financially and militarily. Anxiety flared anew over a possible reduction of the 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea after a Wall Street Journal report in May suggested the Pentagon was considering relocating about 4,500 troops elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific, a claim the Pentagon has denied. Both the internally classified 'Interim National Defense Guidance,' reported by The Washington Post in March, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's remarks in May on the development of the 2025 National Defense Strategy underscore that US forces will prioritize deterring China. At the same time, allies are expected to take on greater responsibility for other regional threats — meaning North Korea, in South Korea's case. Retired Adm. Harry Harris, former commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command and former ambassador to South Korea, previously told The Korea Herald that he cannot rule out the possibility of a repositioning of US Forces Korea as part of the Pentagon's broader strategic realignment in the Indo-Pacific region to handle regional challenges holistically. In Seoul, concerns are also mounting that the operational scope of US Forces Korea could extend beyond the Korean Peninsula and expand to regional defense, including being repurposed for a potential Taiwan emergency. 'In 2003, some units from US Forces Korea were redeployed to Iraq. Now, if they are redeployed — not to Iraq, but to areas near Taiwan — that could present a whole new set of challenges, and it's something we need to think about very carefully," former Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said during last week's Jeju Forum. Whether to attend NATO summit Another daunting task is resetting the diplomatic compass with China amid intensifying US-China competition — and with Russia, as US-Russia relations remain volatile and the Ukraine war enters a new phase. 'Lee has been pretty clear and vocal in the debates and in his statements that he wants to 'balance out' — I think that was the term he used — the relationship between the United States and China,' Cha said. "Lee is going to have to finesse this. There really is a hard line in the sand that the (US) administration has drawn." Cha also warned of 'negative externalities' if the Lee administration walks back too far from the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration's firm policy on China. Another key and imminent decision for the new administration is whether to attend the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague on June 24–25, to which South Korea has been invited as one of four Indo-Pacific partners — Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. Former President Yoon Suk Yeol attended three consecutive NATO summits from 2022 to 2024, where participating countries issued strong statements condemning Russia and China for their roles in the Ukraine war and voiced concern over their growing strategic alignment. When asked whether he would consider attending the NATO summit, Lee took a noncommittal stance. 'With the domestic situation being so chaotic and complicated, unless there is a concrete agenda item, I'm not sure there is a real need to attend, so I have a lot of reservations about it,' Lee said during a news conference on May 25. China's West Sea markers raise alarm Besides the intensifying rivalry between the US and China, another major challenge for bilateral ties with China is Beijing's unilateral installation of buoys and structures in the jointly administered West Sea zone. Seoul has raised concerns about China's installation of three structures within the Provisional Measures Zone — a jointly managed area established due to overlapping exclusive economic zones — between 2018 and 2024. South Korea's Navy has also found 13 large Chinese lighthouse-style buoys, measuring 5 to 13 meters tall, installed in and around the PMZ between 2018 and 2023. Seoul's anxiety stems from China's past behavior both in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, including the building of artificial islands and military bases in disputed waters — often within other countries' exclusive economic zones — causing tensions with neighboring countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam. Unresolved JDZ between Seoul, Tokyo On Japan ties: Despite the 60th anniversary of diplomatic normalization, the long-standing dispute over the Korea-Japan Joint Development Zone for untapped natural resources beneath the East China Sea remains a key obstacle in bilateral relations. The agreement, enacted in 1978 for a 50-year period, can be terminated with three years' notice, with the earliest opportunity coming in June this year. Seoul has warned that even if the JDZ agreement is dissolved, overlapping claims —especially over Block 7 — will persist, and the issue has the potential to become a major source of tension between the two countries, particularly at this critical diplomatic juncture.