During Thursday’s meeting, the three sides discussed ways to counter North Korea’s cryptocurrency theft, and other illegal cyber activities aimed at financing its nuclear and missile development programs…reports Asian Lite News
South Korea, the US and Japan held their first trilateral working-level talks on Thursday on ways to boost cooperation against North Korea’s growing cyber threats, in a follow-up to the summit among their leaders in August, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
The talks in Tokyo were led by Lee Jun-il, the Ministry’s director-general for North Korean nuclear affairs, US Deputy Special Representative for North Korea Jung Pak and Ishizuki Hideo, Japan’s ambassador in charge of cyber policy.
The dialogue was launched as part of a follow-up to an agreement reached among President Yoon Suk Yeol, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during their Camp David summit to beef up tripartite cooperation in security and establish a working group tasked with combating North Korea’s cyber threats, Yonhap news agency reported.
During Thursday’s meeting, the three sides discussed ways to counter North Korea’s cryptocurrency theft, and other illegal cyber activities aimed at financing its nuclear and missile development programs.
They also agreed to boost cooperation with the international community and the private sector to block illegal North Korean workers in the IT sector, the Ministry said in a press statement.
Meanwhile, South Korea is pushing to host a trilateral summit with the US and Japan next year, a senior presidential official said on Thursday.
US President Joe Biden was the host of the first standalone trilateral summit involving South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David in August, Yonhap news agency reported.
Speaking to reporters at the presidential office, the senior official noted the three leaders agreed at the time to try to meet around once a year on whatever occasion.
“We are sounding out their thoughts with the aim of inviting the leaders of Japan and the US to South Korea for a South Korea-US-Japan summit,” the official said.
The three countries have been looking to strengthen their bilateral and trilateral partnerships in the face of growing regional and global challenges, including North Korea’s nuclear programme and China’s rising assertiveness.
On Friday and Saturday, the three countries’ national security advisers will meet in Seoul to discuss follow-up measures to agreements produced at the Camp David summit and other meetings between their leaders.
