S. Korea, U.S., Japan vice foreign ministers meet in Tokyo, call for strong deterrence against N. Korea

South Korea, the U.S. and Japan have reaffirmed the need for strong deterrence against North Korea.

Vice Foreign Ministers Park Yoon-joo, Christopher Landau, and Takehiro Funakoshi held talks in Tokyo Friday, marking 10 years since the deputy-level trilateral began.

The three officials pledged to keep up coordinated pressure on Pyongyang, while backing diplomatic efforts to reopen talks.

They also pushed for deeper cooperation in economic and tech resilience, from AI to supply chains and critical minerals, as core initiatives to safeguard regional stability.

The vice ministers lauded the launch of a new trilateral secretariat between their governments, as a key measure to expand their three-way cooperation.