SINGAPORE–(ENEWSPF)–June 1, 2013. Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, Republic of Korea Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan-jin, andU.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel held trilateral defense ministerial talks in Singapore June 1 on the margins of the Shangri-La Dialogue to discuss the regional security situation and North Korea. The ROK, the U.S. and Japan have held the trilateral defense Minister Meeting on the occasion of the Shangri-La Dialogue and this year’s meeting was the fourth one.
The three ministers expressed their common view that North Korea’s nuclear and missile program and continued acts of provocation, including a long-range ballistic missile launch in December 2012 and a nuclear test in February 2013, are serious threats that undermine not only the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula but also those of Northeast Asia and around the world.
The three ministers strongly called for North Korea to comply with the obligations pursuant to United Nations Security Council resolutions 1718, 1874, 2087, and 2094, including the abandonmentof all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear program, and they emphasized the importance of the steadfast implementation of the resolutions. Additionally, the three ministers expressed their support for the UNSC resolutions, in which the UNSC expresses its determination to take further significant measuresin the event of a additional North Korean missile launch or nuclear test. The three ministers affirmed that they willcontinue their collaboration to deter North Korean threats of nuclear and missile development and further provocative acts.
The three ministers reaffirmed the importance of trilateral cooperation, based on common values and shared security interests, and their nations’ cooperative efforts to contribute to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and around the globe.
The three ministers reaffirmed the importance of trilateral collaboration for regional peace and security and decidedto expand joint efforts in counter piracyoperations off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden, in HA/DR cooperation, in Search and Rescue Exercise and in counter-proliferation efforts.
Source: defense.gov
