S. Korea, Japan, Australia hold trilateral talks to discuss security, cooperation
Senior defense officials of South Korea, Japan and Australia held trilateral talks Sunday to discuss the regional security situation and ways to strengthen their cooperation, the South's defense ministry said.
Deputy defense minister for policy Cho Chang-rae and his Japanese and Australian counterparts; Taro Yamato, director general for defense policy and Hugh Jeffrey, deputy secretary of strategy, policy and industry, met on the sidelines of the of the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual defense forum held in Singapore.
Last year, the three countries held their first-ever meeting of defense ministers on the occasion of the security forum held in the city-state. This year, Cho attended the gathering instead of acting Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho who skipped it ahead of the June 3 presidential election.
In addition to the trilateral meeting, Cho held a series of bilateral meetings with senior defense officials from Canada, Japan, the Philippines, Poland and Singapore, to discuss defense and arms industry cooperation, according to the ministry.
Cho and Yamato, the Japanese defense official, reaffirmed the importance of their bilateral and trilateral security cooperation with the United States, in the face of North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats and deepening military cooperation with Russia.
In talks with Polish deputy defense minister Pawel Zalewski on Saturday, both sides touted their arms industry cooperation involving exports of the K9 self-propelled howitzer and agree to closely cooperate on expanding their defense exchange and cooperation, the ministry said.
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Korea Herald
2 days ago
- Korea Herald
S. Korea, Japan, Australia hold trilateral talks to discuss security, cooperation
Senior defense officials of South Korea, Japan and Australia held trilateral talks Sunday to discuss the regional security situation and ways to strengthen their cooperation, the South's defense ministry said. Deputy defense minister for policy Cho Chang-rae and his Japanese and Australian counterparts; Taro Yamato, director general for defense policy and Hugh Jeffrey, deputy secretary of strategy, policy and industry, met on the sidelines of the of the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual defense forum held in Singapore. Last year, the three countries held their first-ever meeting of defense ministers on the occasion of the security forum held in the city-state. This year, Cho attended the gathering instead of acting Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho who skipped it ahead of the June 3 presidential election. In addition to the trilateral meeting, Cho held a series of bilateral meetings with senior defense officials from Canada, Japan, the Philippines, Poland and Singapore, to discuss defense and arms industry cooperation, according to the ministry. Cho and Yamato, the Japanese defense official, reaffirmed the importance of their bilateral and trilateral security cooperation with the United States, in the face of North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats and deepening military cooperation with Russia. In talks with Polish deputy defense minister Pawel Zalewski on Saturday, both sides touted their arms industry cooperation involving exports of the K9 self-propelled howitzer and agree to closely cooperate on expanding their defense exchange and cooperation, the ministry said.
Korea Herald
2 days ago
- Korea Herald
US warns China threat, urges Asia to boost defense
SINGAPORE (Reuters) — US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on Saturday that the threat from China was real and potentially imminent as he pushed allies in the Indo-Pacific to spend more on their own defense needs. Hegseth, speaking for the first time at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia's premier forum for defense leaders, militaries and diplomats, underlined that the Indo-Pacific region was a priority for the Trump administration. "There's no reason to sugar coat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent," Hegseth said, in some of his strongest comments on the Communist nation since he took office in January. He added that any attempt by China to conquer Taiwan "would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world," and echoed Trump's comment that China will not invade Taiwan on the president's watch. China views Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to "reunify" with the democratic and separately governed island, by force if necessary. It has stepped up military and political pressure to assert those claims, including increasing the intensity of war games around Taiwan. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future. "It has to be clear to all that Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo Pacific," Hegseth said. China said the comments "were steeped in provocations and instigation." "Mr. Hegseth repeatedly smeared and attacked China and relentlessly played up the so-called 'China threat,'" the Chinese embassy in Singapore said on its Facebook page. "As a matter of fact, the US itself is the biggest 'troublemaker' for regional peace and stability." Hegseth's comments on allies needing to increase spending is likely to cause consternation amongst partners, even though experts said he faced a relatively friendly audience in Singapore. China's Defense Minister Dong Jun has decided to skip the major Asian security forum and Beijing has sent only an academic delegation. Hegseth has previously taken aim at allies in Europe for not spending more on their own defense. In February, he warned Europe against treating America like a "sucker" while addressing a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels. On Friday, while delivering the keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue, French President Emmanuel Macron said Hegseth was justified in asking Europe to increase its own defense spending. "It's hard to believe, a little bit, after some trips to Europe that I'm saying this, but thanks to President Trump, Asian allies should look to countries in Europe as a new found example," Hegseth said. "NATO members are pledging to spend 5 percent of their GDP on defense, even Germany. So it doesn't make sense for countries in Europe to do that while key allies in Asia spend less on defense in the face of an even more formidable threat, not to mention North Korea." Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said it was important to have Hegseth acknowledge that European countries were stepping up. "It was for me maybe the first time or one of the first times I heard the US administration acknowledge this explicitly," Brekelmans said, referring to Hegseth's comments. US Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, who is co-leading a bi-partisan delegation to the Shangri-la Dialogue, said it was noteworthy that Hegseth emphasized that the United States was committed to the region, but his language on allies was not helpful. "I thought it was patronizing of our friends in the Indo-Pacific in particular," Duckworth said. Spending on weapons and research is spiking among some Asian countries as they respond to a darkening security outlook by broadening their outside industrial partnerships while trying to boost their own defense industries, according to a new study by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, the organization that runs the Shangri-La Dialogue. The spike comes even as Asian nations spent an average of 1.5 percent of GDP on defense in 2024, a figure that has kept relatively constant over the last decade, it said. Hegseth suggested that allies in Europe focus on security on the European continent, so that Washington could focus on the threat posed by China in the Indo-Pacific, alongside more participation by allies in Asia. "We would much prefer that the overwhelming balance of European investment be on that continent, so that as we partner there, which we will continue to do, we're able to use our comparative advantage as an Indo-Pacific nation to support our partners here," he said in response to a question after his speech.
Korea Herald
3 days ago
- Korea Herald
S. Korea almost absent in Hegseth's speech at Shangri-La Dialogue
The Pentagon chief's speech at an annual defense forum in Singapore used to highlight defense cooperation with South Korea and trilateral efforts with Japan as the United States has sought to leverage the core Asian allies for peace in the face of a provocative North Korea and an assertive China. But South Korea was almost absent in this year's Shangri-La Dialogue speech by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, adding to concerns that the monthslong absence of a fully elected leader in South Korea could have an impact on the bilateral alliance. The speech was delivered as South Korea is set to pick a new president in an election slated for Tuesday. The presidential vote was set up following the April ouster of former President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law declaration in December. Hegseth's speech spelled out security engagements with Japan, the Philippines, Australia, Thailand and India as well as the trilateral partnership between the US, Japan and Australia. But Korea was not mentioned in his narrative of security cooperation with Indo-Pacific allies and partners. He touched on South Korea once, when he announced a defense cooperation project that will enable Korea and New Zealand, which use P-8 maritime aircraft, to repair the plane in the Indo-Pacific rather than relying on a single repair source in the continental U.S. The increasingly worrisome North Korean military quandary was not given much attention in the secretary's speech either, whereas he accentuated threats from China and stressed the need for allies to increase defense spending and serve as "force multipliers" in the midst of threats from Beijing. The secretary's perceived lack of focus on cooperation with South Korea followed a recent Wall Street Journal report that the Pentagon is considering the idea of pulling out around 4,500 troops from the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea (USFK). The Pentagon has dismissed the report as untrue, but speculation continues. A senior US defense official has said that given the US' priority on deterring China, it is "essential" to work with the incoming Seoul government to "modernize" the alliance and "calibrate" US force posture on the Korean Peninsula -- a remark that apparently left open the door for an adjustment to the USFK presence. South Korea was also absent in the secretary's plans for bilateral, trilateral and multilateral talks on the sidelines of the annual forum, as Seoul sent Deputy Defense Minister for Policy Cho Chang-rae to the forum rather than its acting Defense Minister Kim Sun-ho. "My understanding is (the secretary's South Korean) counterpart was not able to be attending the Shangri-La Dialogue. That's why he is not able to do the bilateral meeting with South Korea at this time," a senior US defense official told reporters earlier this week. "But obviously we look forward to working with the incoming South Korean government after the election. I also want to reiterate the US-ROK alliance remains critical to the US interests," he added. ROK stands for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea. Though South Korea was rarely seen in official events, its officials made behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts to maintain engagements with foreign partners, a diplomatic source told Yonhap News Agency. "Still, we have received a due amount of requests from foreign governments for engagements at the forum," the source said. Still, South Koreans appear to have been a bit let down about a lack of attention to Korea in the secretary's remarks. "I felt that it was a bit unfortunate," another source said. Worries about the strength of the alliance in the midst of political uncertainty in Seoul emerged in March as well when Hegseth skipped South Korea in his first trip to the Indo-Pacific, which included stops in Japan and the Philippines. Brushing aside those concerns, Seoul and Washington continued to hold regular defense talks. Early this month, the allies held the Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue in Washington, where the two sides agreed to further cooperate to achieve shared security goals on the peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific. The two sides are also expected to hold a meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group, their key nuclear deterrence body. Observers pin hopes on the full resumption of high-level talks between South Korea and the US once a new government is launched next month. (Yonhap)
