Top diplomats of South Korea, US, Japan to hold 3-way talks in New York this week

Seoul, Sep 22 (IANS) The top diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold trilateral talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this week, Seoul's foreign ministry said on Monday.

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will join US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya for the talks set for Monday afternoon (local time), the ministry said in a message to reporters, without providing other details.

The three top diplomats are accompanying their respective leaders --South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba -- at the UN General Assembly High-Level Week in New York.

The top diplomats are expected to use the talks to highlight the shared commitment to the three-way partnership and efforts for closer coordination on key issues of common interest, including North Korea's nuclear issues.

The talks come after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signaled openness to engage in talks with the Trump administration if Washington gives up on its demand for Pyongyang's denuclearisation, saying he has a "good memory" of Trump in an apparent reference to their series of nuclear talks during Trump's first term.

Kim made it clear again that his country will never sit down with South Korea for talks and never seek unification with the South despite the Lee government's repeated overtures.

In his recent interview with TIME magazine, Lee reaffirmed his three-step approach of an arms freeze, reduction and denuclearisation in exchange for dialogue to "partially ease or lift sanctions" as a solution to North Korea's nuclear issues. He said Trump would be "on the same page."

Besides North Korean issues, the three sides are expected to discuss joint efforts to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, with a possible note on China's growing assertiveness in the region, Yonhap news agency reported.

They could also discuss areas of practical cooperation in key and emerging technologies, such as critical minerals, supply chains stability and artificial intelligence.

The last top diplomatic talks between the three countries took place in Malaysia on the margins of Association of Southeast Asian Nations-related meetings, with a South Korean vice foreign minister attending the dialogue in place of Cho, whose parliamentary appointment procedure was still under way.

--IANS

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