South Korean, U.S. and Japanese Foreign Ministers to Meet in U.S. on G20 Sidelines; Korean Peninsula Talks on Agenda?

The foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States and Japan will meet in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 30 (local time). About a month after their last meeting, they are expected to discuss issues concerning the Korean Peninsula, regional and global affairs, and ways to cooperate on energy and economic security.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun (right), U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left), and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu (center) walk together after meeting for a trilateral foreign ministers' meeting in New York on September 21 (local time). Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Cho Hyun is scheduled to hold a trilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) Foreign Ministers' Meeting that afternoon.

The three foreign ministers are meeting about a month after their September 21 meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. They also met in July on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Türkiye and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in the Philippines.

At this meeting, they are expected to discuss the situation on the Korean Peninsula, including North Korea's recent military provocations such as ballistic missile launches and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's visit to China, as well as ways for the three countries to coordinate.

North Korea is continuing its shows of force while touting advances in its weapons systems. On October 30, North Korea said through the Korean Central News Agency that it had staged a show of force the previous day involving suicide drones, cruise missiles and 600-mm multiple rocket launchers. The Joint Chiefs of Staff also detected around 10 missiles, including short-range ballistic missiles, launched the previous day from the Wonsan area toward the East Sea.

Whether the ministers will also discuss conditions for resuming U.S.-North Korea talks is drawing attention. The Lee Jaemyung administration has expressed its willingness to serve as a "pacesetter" for such talks, so the ministers may exchange views on ways to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table. At a parliamentary audit by the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on October 27, Cho said, "I think a U.S.-North Korea summit could serve as a catalyst for breaking the current impasse."

At their meeting last month, the three foreign ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea and called on it to return to dialogue.

Minister Cho is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with major European countries on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting. A separate bilateral meeting between the South Korean and U.S. foreign ministers is also being arranged. Requests from various countries to meet with the United States, the G20 host, have been piling up, and, given Secretary Rubio's schedule, the possibility of a brief meeting remains open, according to reports.

If a meeting between South Korea and the United States takes place, the issue of visas for lawmakers is also expected to be raised. Before departing on October 29, Cho said he planned to ask the U.S. side to expedite visa issuance for Democratic Party lawmakers Jin Seongjun and Chung Cheongrae, whose U.S. visa applications had been denied or delayed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.