Top South Korean, US, Japanese diplomats reaffirm North Korea denuclearisation goal, urge dialogue

New York: The top diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan reiterated their "resolute" commitment to the "complete" denuclearisation of North Korea and called on the recalcitrant regime to resume dialogue in a joint statement issued after their trilateral talks in New York.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi met on Monday (local time) on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly High-Level Week, also stressing the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

"The Secretary and the Foreign Ministers reaffirmed their resolute commitment to the complete denuclearisation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the prohibition on support for revenue generation for the DPRK's nuclear and ballistic missile programs in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions," the three governments said in the statement, referring to North Korea by its official name.

"They also reaffirmed that the path to dialogue remains open and called on the DPRK to resume dialogue, while continuing to make efforts to advance peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula."

Their call for the resumption of dialogue with Pyongyang came as US President Donald Trump hopes to have a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un later this year to rekindle his personal diplomacy with the dynastic ruler in Pyongyang.

While calling for dialogue, the US side reiterated its "ironclad" commitments to the defence of South Korea and Japan, "backed by America's unmatched military strength, including its nuclear capabilities," according to the statement.

Cho, Rubio and Motegi also welcomed the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team's (MSMT) work on North Korea's violations and evasions of UNSC resolutions. MSMT is a group established in 2024 to monitor sanctions evasions and breaches.

"They welcomed the alert to countries, companies and other entities regarding North Korean IT workers issued by like-minded countries, and progress in addressing DPRK's cyber threats including through the trilateral working group meeting in June," the governments said.

The chief diplomats underlined the importance of peace across the Taiwan Strait, where tensions continue as Beijing has not ruled out the use of force to take control of Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that it regards as part of its territory.

"The Secretary and Foreign Ministers encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues and opposed any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo. They expressed support for Taiwan's meaningful participation in appropriate international organisations," the governments said.

"They also underscored their support for preserving freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded lawful commerce, and other lawful uses of the sea for all nations in the Indo-Pacific and globally, in accordance with international law as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea."

Their mention of Taiwan and Indo-Pacific maritime issues came as Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to have a summit at the White House on Thursday, where the leaders are expected to discuss a range of issues, including geopolitical ones.

According to Seoul's foreign ministry, the three top diplomats also exchanged views on major regional and global issues, including developments in Northeast Asia and the Middle East, and agreed to further strengthen trilateral communication and coordination amid growing uncertainties in the international situation.

The three sides also highlighted cooperation on economic security issues, including supply chain resilience.

"Standing firmly against economic coercion and non-market policies and practices leading to harmful overcapacity and market distortion, including arbitrary export restrictions that disrupt supply chains, the Secretary and the Foreign Ministers resolved to maintain free and transparent trade and secure critical supply chains," they said.

To this end, they committed to enhance the trilateral supply chain early warning system and welcomed the launch of a new trilateral consultation on economic security.

In addition, the diplomats stressed the need to strengthen regional energy supply resilience, including by increasing oil stockpiles and promoting collaboration between producing and consuming countries, while welcoming initiatives to enhance energy security through regional cooperation, according to the statement.

"They committed to a plan to implement the July 7 trilateral Memorandum of Cooperation to accelerate small modular reactor deployments in other countries in a mutually beneficial manner and under the highest standards of nuclear safety, security, and nonproliferation," the three sides said.

In addition, the diplomats resolved to cooperatively reinforce advanced-technology stacks and supply chain resilience and to promote and protect critical and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum technology, digital infrastructure, and biotechnology.

The top diplomats of the three nations previously held trilateral talks on the margins of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Turkey on July 7 and on the sidelines of a regional forum involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the Philippines on July 22.

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