Meeting highlights diplomatic continuity but exposes limitations under Trump’s transactional foreign policy

The U.S., South Korea and Japan held a trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting on Friday in Kuala Lumpur to reaffirm coordination on North Korea policy and discuss ways to expand cooperation in security and high-tech sectors. The talks took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meetings, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Park Yun-joo and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya in attendance.

The three countries reiterated their shared commitment to North Korea’s complete denuclearization and agreed to enhance trilateral security cooperation while maintaining strong deterrence against Pyongyang. They also pledged to deepen collaboration in areas including energy, shipbuilding, supply chain resilience and advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence.

The U.S., South Korea and Japan held a trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting on Friday in Kuala Lumpur to reaffirm coordination on North Korea policy and discuss ways to expand cooperation in security and high-tech sectors. The talks took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meetings, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Park Yun-joo and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya in attendance.

The three countries reiterated their shared commitment to North Korea’s complete denuclearization and agreed to enhance trilateral security cooperation while maintaining strong deterrence against Pyongyang. They also pledged to deepen collaboration in areas including energy, shipbuilding, supply chain resilience and advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence.

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