South Korea, US, Japan ink document formalising trilateral security cooperation

SEOUL — The defence chiefs of South Korea, the United States and Japan signed a document on the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework (TSCF) on Sunday, Seoul’s defence ministry said, in a move solidifying their continued commitment to three-way security cooperation against North Korean threats.

South Korean Defence Minister Shin Won-sik and his US and Japanese counterparts, Lloyd Austin and Minoru Kihara, respectively, inked a Memorandum of Cooperation on the framework in Tokyo amid their deepening security cooperation in response to the North’s persistent nuclear and missile threats and growing military alignment with Russia, Yonhap news agency reported.

As the first document that institutionalises joint efforts for trilateral security cooperation among defence authorities, it provides the direction and policy principle for areas of high-level policy consultations, information sharing and trilateral drills, according to the ministry.

“Accordingly, the ministers of the three nations reaffirmed the unwavering nature of the new era of trilateral cooperation,” it said in a joint press statement.

A ministry official said the document is meant to ensure the conditions for trilateral security cooperation are continuously pursued amid a fluid international security environment.

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Under the agreement, the three nations are expected to step up cooperation for the effective operation of their real-time sharing of North Korean missile data and regularly carry out joint drills, including the multidomain Freedom Edge exercise, based on a multiyear plan.

The document’s signing came after South Korea proposed drawing up a joint document during a trilateral security meeting in February, followed by a meeting of the defence chiefs on the sidelines of the Shangri-la Dialogue in June, where they agreed on inking the document within this year.

In what marked their first-ever gathering in Tokyo, the three defence chiefs also voiced concerns over growing military and economic cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, emboldened by signing the “comprehensive strategic partnership” treaty that includes a mutual defence clause.

They also denounced the North’s diversification of nuclear delivery systems and test launches of multiple ballistic missiles, as well as other tension-escalating acts on the Korean Peninsula.

Speaking to South Korean correspondents after the signing, Shin pointed out that it should not be connected to the timing of the upcoming US presidential elections but said that it was swiftly carried out due to other political situations that could easily change.

Still, Shin said he believes trilateral security cooperation will likely endure regardless of who wins in the November election.

“It remains unchanged that North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats threaten the security of the three countries, and there are a lot of regional challenges,” Shin said. “I believe it will continue to be pursued in an unwavering nature since it is aligned with the respective national interests of the three countries.”

The TSCF is not only the first such document between the three nations but also serves as a “benchmark document” that institutionalises their security cooperation, according to Shin.

The defence chiefs plan to meet in Seoul next year for their trilateral ministerial meeting.