WASHINGTON --Defense officials from Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and the United States conducted a call on October 1, 2021 to discuss regional security affairs.

Japanese Director General for Defense Policy Kazuo Masuda, ROK Deputy Minister for National Defense Policy Kim Man-gi, and U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner engaged in consultations on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) nuclear and missile threat, regional security, and substantive ways to strengthen trilateral security cooperation.

The representatives reaffirmed the importance of trilateral security cooperation and committed to explore high-level exchanges, including a Trilateral Defense Ministerial, on a date to be mutually determined in the future.