The foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States, and Japan met in Brussels, Belgium, on the 3rd (local time), just one day after the U.S. announced its mutual tariffs.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Jo Tae-yul, who is visiting Brussels to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Foreign Ministers' Meeting, met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeši Iwaya at NATO headquarters on that morning to discuss cooperation plans. This is the second meeting of the three ministers since the Munich Security Conference (MSC) on Feb. 15 during the second term of President Donald Trump.
President Trump announced the imposition of mutual tariffs of 25% and 24% on South Korea and Japan, respectively, the day before. In particular, there has been confusion regarding South Korea, as the executive order appendix released by the White House after Trump's press conference states 26%.
It has been reported that after the meeting, South Korea, the U.S., and Japan are coordinating to announce a joint statement. Through this joint statement, the three countries are expected to reiterate their concerns regarding North Korea's military cooperation with Russia related to the war in Ukraine.
Relevant content was also included in the joint statement of the three foreign ministers, which was issued during the Munich Security Conference. As the Trump administration perceives the trilateral cooperation system among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan not only for deterring North Korean threats but also as a framework for cooperation to contain China, it is expected that related content will be reflected in the joint statement.
Minister Jo plans to attend the NATO Allies-Indo-Pacific Partner Countries session held that afternoon to discuss global security challenges and the situation in the Indo-Pacific region, and to express the intention to strengthen cooperation with NATO.
This year's meeting has invited four Indo-Pacific partner countries (IP4)—South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand—for the fourth consecutive year, and the European Union (EU) and Ukraine will also participate.