President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba also condemned North Korea for sending troops to Russia to aid its war against Ukraine and reaffirmed their commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
"Today, we announce the establishment of the Trilateral Secretariat responsible for coordinating and implementing our shared commitments," they said in a joint statement after a trilateral summit in Lima on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
“This new secretariat will seek to ensure that the work we do together further aligns our objectives and actions to make the Indo-Pacific a thriving, connected, resilient, stable, and secure region.”
They condemned Russia and North Korea for their decisions “to dangerously expand Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.”
“Deepening military cooperation between the DPRK and Russia, including munitions and ballistic missile transfers, is particularly egregious given Russia's status as a Permanent Member of the U.N. Security Council,” the leaders said.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
They reaffirmed their commitment to “the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
“We commit to respond firmly to violations and evasions of DPRK-related UNSC resolutions as well as any attempt to undermine the global non-proliferation regime,” they said.
The joint statement outlined serious concerns about North Korea's illicit revenue generation methods, including arms transfers, malicious cyber activities, and the dispatch of workers abroad, which fund its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.
On regional security, the leaders announced a new Trilateral Maritime Security and Law Enforcement Cooperation Framework to “protect rules-based approaches to the maritime domain.”
They expressed strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in Indo-Pacific waters.
They addressed tensions in the South China Sea, opposing what they termed "unlawful maritime claims" and "the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels."
The statement also emphasized the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, describing it as "an indispensable element" for regional security and prosperity.
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