US, Japan, South Korea sign pact amid ‘deteriorating’ regional security

TOKYO—A first-ever gathering of defense chiefs from Japan, South Korea, and the United States here produced a trilateral security agreement, “grave concern” over increasing Russian-North Korean cooperation, and vague opposition to “unilateral attempts to change the status quo”—a reference to China and Taiwan. 

Separately, the United States and Japan announced a new effort to co-develop and produce missiles and counterstrike capabilities.

“The defense ministers from our three countries have never met in the same room in either of your countries, but that changes today,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told his counterparts as the meeting began here on Monday morning.

In a joint statement, the three countries said the new Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework would include “senior-level policy consultations, information sharing, trilateral exercises, and defense exchange cooperation, to contribute to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, in the Indo-Pacific region, and beyond.”

The statement also said the nations “strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific, and they shared concerns about actions that are inconsistent with international law as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”

US-Japanese missile plans

A key topic of discussion between the United States and Japan was the co-development of counterstrike missiles such as Lockheed Martin’s PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement, or MSE, and the Raytheon’s AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM.

Later, at a press conference featuring Austin, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and their Japanese counterparts, the U.S. defense secretary said the new bilateral agreement would “enable us to increase our magazine dept…in a number of areas and increase interoperability as well.” 

It was too early, he said, to provide details on production numbers or timelines. 

“What's important is that we have committed to working together on producing counter-strike capability. And that commitment is real and our staffs continue to do the hard work to ensure that this becomes a reality,” he said. “And I'm pretty excited about that.”

Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara added that he welcomed the progress in defense industrial cooperation, acquisition, and sustainment, including on “co-production opportunities” for PAC-3 MSE and AIM-120 AMRAAM “that are mutually beneficial to both Japan and the U.S.”

Blinken said Japan had learned lessons from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that apply to the Asia-Pacific. 

He said Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, “was one of the ones who made this so clear, so eloquently. Just days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he made the point that what was happening in Europe today could well happen in this region tomorrow.” 

When Defense One asked whether Japan and the United States understood their roles should China invade Taiwan, Japan’s Kihara spoke only in terms of established mutual agreements to defend Japanese territory. He specifically mentioned the Senkaku Islands, which Japan controls and which are claimed by China, and said any “contingency” could invoke Article Five of the Japan-U.S. treaty.

“In addition to that, for specifics and details, I will refrain from discussing,” Kihara said through an interpreter. 

In a joint statement, the U.S. and Japanese defense chiefs said they “shared assessments of an increasingly deteriorating regional security environment, including North Korea’s continued destabilizing behavior and sustained pursuit of its unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile programs, China’s accelerating and opaque expansion of its nuclear arsenal, and Russia’s undermining of arms control and the global nonproliferation regime, including through its expanding military cooperation and unlawful arms transfers with North Korea. Under these circumstances, the United States and Japan reiterated the need to reinforce the Alliance’s [sic] deterrence posture and manage existing and emerging strategic threats through deterrence, arms control, risk reduction, and nonproliferation.”

US-South Korean statement

In another bilateral statement, the U.S. and South Korea defense chiefs said they discussed the “illegal arms trade and transfer of high technology between Russia and the DPRK” that violate U.S. Security Council resolutions, and vowed to “continue to enforce the UNSC sanctions, in close cooperation with the international community.”

The moves come amid deepening cooperation among China, Russia, and North Korea, particularly in terms of supplying Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia is now using North Korean missiles against Ukrainian targets and China is providing critical components for Russian missiles, according to the State Department.