S. Korea, US, Japan to hold 3-way high-level talks amid concerns over Trump tariffs

Korea Herald

11-07-2025

South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold trilateral ministerial talks on the sidelines of a multilateral gathering in Malaysia on Friday, Seoul officials said, with steep US tariffs, and other shared regional and global issues likely to be high on the agenda.
First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo will join US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya for the talks on the margins of the foreign ministers' meetings hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
It will mark the first high-level talks among the senior diplomats of the three countries since the launch of the Lee Jae Myung government in early June. Park is attending the forum on behalf of the foreign minister, as the appointment process is still in progress.
Holding such talks with South Korea represented by the vice minister reflects the importance the three countries place on their trilateral partnership that was elevated to new heights under their previous governments.
The talks also come as Seoul is negotiating with Washington to avoid or minimize the impact of tariff hikes on its export-dependent economy. US President Donald Trump has notified both Seoul and Tokyo through letters addressed to their leaders that the "reciprocal" tariffs will take effect on Aug. 1.
Both South Korea and Japan face 25 percent duties on their goods. Trump's announcement is seen as an effective extension of the deadline originally set for July 9, following a 90-day pause on the measure.
Friday's talks are also expected to include discussions on three-way coordination in regional security issues, including the expanding military ties between North Korea and Russia, and China's growing assertiveness.
The previous trilateral talks among the three countries took place in Brussels in April on the margins of the foreign ministers meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
In a joint statement released after the talks, the three sides called for an end to actions that destabilize security around the Taiwan Strait, in an apparent veiled warning to China against its increasing military activities in the area.
They also highlighted the commitment to bolstering industry cooperation, specifically citing US liquefied natural gas and shipbuilding, the sectors that Trump has identified as areas for collaboration with South Korea and Japan. (Yonhap)